Making Their Mark: Honoring Mississippi’s First Black Legislators on the Landscape and in Public Memory
The “Making Their Mark” project, funded by a grant from Monument Lab’s Re:Generation initiative in 2026, will facilitate the installation of historical markers in counties across Mississippi to recognize the 162 Black men who served in the state or national legislature between 1870-1894. There will be 22 markers in total, with some adjacent counties being combined. Each marker’s unveiling will be accompanied by community programming featuring creative performances by local students.
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Planned Marker Locations (click for list of legislators being honored and current status of application)
National Figures – Jackson State University
Adams – Natchez
Bolivar/Sunflower – Cleveland
Chickasaw/Monroe – Okolona
Claiborne/Jefferson – Port Gibson
Coahoma/Tunica – Clarksdale
Hinds/Rankin – Jackson
Holmes – Lexington
Lauderdale/Clarke – Meridian
Lawrence/Copiah/Marion – Monticello
Leflore/Carroll/Grenada – Greenwood
Lowndes – Columbus
Madison – Canton
Marshall/DeSoto – Holly Springs
Noxubee – Macon
Oktibbeha/Clay – Starkville
Panola – Batesville
Sharkey/Issaquena – Rolling Fork
Warren – Vicksburg
Washington – Greenville
Wilkinson/Amite – Woodville
Yazoo – Yazoo City
Update December 18, 2025 – The first round of markers, eleven in total, have been approved by their county Boards of Supervisors and submitted to the Department of Archives and History: Adams, Claiborne/Jefferson, Holmes, Lauderdale/Clarke, Lowndes, Marshall/DeSoto, Noxubee, Oktibbeha/Clay, Warren, Washington, and Wilkinson/Amite. From the second round of markers to be submitted later, the supervisors of Madison and Yazoo have given their approval.
PRESS
Natchez Democrat, December 18, 2025
Macon Beacon, December 11, 2025
The Southern Reveille, December 5, 2025
Columbus Commercial Dispatch, December 5, 2025
THE TEAM
DeeDee Baldwin (Mississippi State University)
Chuck Yarborough (Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science)
Brother Rogers (ret., Mississippi Department of Archives and History)
Roscoe Barnes (Visit Natchez)
Vickie Roberts Ratliff (Land, Literacy, Legacy LLC)
Robby Luckett (Jackson State University)
Heather Denne (Jackson State University)
Please contact DeeDee Baldwin (dbaldwin@library.msstate.edu) for more information.
This page was last updated on December 18, 2025.