Mississippi State University Director of Player Personnel Rockey Felker will attend and speak at the Black History Month celebration on Thursday, Feb. 6. The program begins at 5:30 p.m. at the museum.
“We are thrilled to have Mr. Felker come to this event,” said Leesha Faulkner, curator of the museum. “Many of us remember the veer option and his gift for running that offense, as well as those days he coached the Bulldogs. We appreciate his time and are grateful to the MSU Athletics Department for working with us to honor Frank Dowsing of Tupelo, another outstanding Bulldog.”
Sam Bell, the quarterback for the George Washington Carver Blue Devils in 1955, will also be honored for his community leadership. Mr. Bell led the team in 1955 that won the district championship.
African American leaders Frank Dowsing and Sam Bell will be among several locals who will be featured in the Oren Dunn City Museum;s Black History Exhibit from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
“Tupelo has a rich heritage. The African American community is a significant contributor to the Tupelo story,” said Oren Dunn City Museum curator Leesha Faulkner.
Frank Dowsing will be receiving the Spirit of Tupelo designation and will be featured in Tupelo’s Black History exhibit. He was one of the first African American students to integrate Tupelo High School and was one of two African American football players recruited by Mississippi State University, where he was an athletic and academic standout, Faulkner said. Mr. Dowsing was a remarkable individual who helped ease racial tensions at Tupelo High School and Mississippi State University through his affable personality and his athletic prowess.
via the Daily Journal, Bell, a Medallion Award recipient, was the quarterback of the 1955 George Washington Carver High School team, which won their district championship, and has been a leader in Tupelo in a variety of other ways. Bell was also a close friend of Elvis Presley.
“(African American contribution to Tupelo) is a thread that runs through the whole tapestry and binds us together, and I think that will be evidenced by the banners that are on our walls (and) our celebration of these and other African American folks who are here and who have passed us,” Faulkner said.
Mayor Jason Shelton and Tupelo City Council President Nettie Davis will attend. Local radio announcer Stan Allen of The Pulse 104.3 FM will be the masters of ceremonies. Allen was recently named one of the most influential African Americans by Our Mississippi. Zell Long will be singing. Refreshments will be served.
There will also be a special exhibit of African American soldiers in various wars at the Tupelo Veterans Museum. Thanks to the Tupelo School District, for the first time, there will be an exhibit on the early days of George Washington Carver High School prior to integration. It will feature composite photos and historical items, such as a copy of a PTA program from when key Harlem Renaissance writer Langston Hughes gave a reading at Carver High School on Feb. 18, 1946. A Chicago Defender article confirmed George McLean sent a reporter to cover it.
“You can almost tell the shock in that reporter’s voice, because it was like, wow, there’s a white reporter here covering this, and this was still Jim Crow,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner has been planning the event since June, but said a committee formed in December. She also has plans for Women’s History Month. This year’s exhibit is funded through the CREATE Zeke and Karen Hodges Fund, which is a grant designated for Black History Month exhibits. This will be in memory of Ricky Mallory, Faulkner said.
The exhibit opens at the Oren Dunn Museum at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 6, and will have live music and refreshments.
