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Newspaper The Durant News (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985

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About The Durant News (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985

The railroad community, Durant, is located in Holmes County in rural west-central Mississippi. Twenty-four years after the town was founded in 1858, the Durant News, was established. The newspaper had numerous publishers and editors before stability was achieved when single, native-Alabaman Hazel Brannon bought the declining weekly in 1936.

The first of four Mississippi newspapers owned by Brannon, the Durant News was typical for a small-town journal in many ways with a mix of national, state, and local news, serialized stories, filler pieces, and advertisements. What made her papers atypical was her editorial column entitled, "Through Hazel Eyes." As a journalism major at the University of Alabama, Hazel Brannon embraced the philosophy that journalists had an obligation to accurately report the news to enable readers to make their own informed decisions and to make a positive contribution to the community they served. This she did with determination taking aim against bootleg liquor in her column during the first 20 years as proprietor of the News.

Mississippi made the sale of alcoholic beverages illegal 11 years prior to the start of national prohibition in 1920 and didn't repeal the state law until 1966. An unlawful liquor business, run by organized crime, filled the vacuum and provided a venue for other illicit activities such as prostitution and gambling. Brannon, who married Walter Dyer Smith in 1950, wasn't against the consumption of alcohol, she was, however, against the lawlessness created by illegal liquor sales and in an August 18, 1938 editorial maintained that "The law should either be enforced or repealed." In particular, she went after Holmes County Sheriff, Walter Murtagh. In an April 18, 1946 editorial she accused Murtagh of "…fail[ing] to do his sworn duty…of enforcing the prohibition laws and laws against gambling." In 1948, new sheriff Ellis Wynn, who ran on a law-and-order platform, did make a dent in the county's blatant lawlessness, however, with Richard F. Byrd, Wynn's successor, illegal alcohol sales again became a problem.

Even though Smith thrived in the male-dominated journalism field and lived a comfortable lifestyle at first, her dedication to free speech crossed a line with white county residents after the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka decision declared segregated schools unconstitutional. After this momentous case, tolerance of her increasing number of criticisms towards abuse of African American's Civil Rights waned as white residents put up a united front against any changes to the prevailing rigid racial hierarchy. Even though she believed in segregation and white superiority, as a moderate, she did not believe in using any means, including violence and intimidation, to achieve it. This put her at odds with the majority of her readership and the backlash, including the establishment of a rival white supremist newspaper, the Holmes County Herald, forced her to reconsider her views on segregation. From 1954 on, her editorials reflected her transformation from segregationist to supporter of Civil Rights for African Americans.

The Durant News and Smith's other long-running Holmes County paper, the Lexington Advertiser, ceased publication in 1985 amidst Smith's growing debt, deteriorating health, and declining newspaper quality.

Provided By: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Durant News (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985

Names

  • Smith, Hazel Brannon

Dates of Publication

  • 1882-1985

Created / Published

  • Durant, Miss. : John Kyllingstad & M.J. Peters, -1985.

Headings

  • -  Durant (Miss.)--Newspapers
  • -  Mississippi--Durant
  • -  United States--Mississippi--Holmes--Durant

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Weekly
  • -  Began in 1882.
  • -  -yr. 121, no. 48 (Sept. 5, 1985).
  • -  Editor: Hazel Brannon Smith (1936-1985).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Description based on: Vol. 16, no. 27 (Mar. 17, 1899).

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn87065228

OCLC Number

  • 15477306

ISSN Number

  • 2765-9291

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Durant News Durant, Miss. -1985. (Durant, MS), Jan. 1 1882. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn87065228/.

APA citation style:

(1882, January 1) The Durant News Durant, Miss. -1985. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn87065228/.

MLA citation style:

The Durant News Durant, Miss. -1985. (Durant, MS) 1 Jan. 1882. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn87065228/.