Delta History

The story of the Mississippi Delta is the American story shrunk in time and space.

It is the story of the clearing of the wilderness and the taming of the Mississippi River. It is the story of newly emancipated slaves and their children looking for new lives, of entrepreneurs looking to make new fortunes, of farmers looking for fertile land and abundant water. It is the story of immigrants and laborers, who came from Northern Europe, China, Italy, Syria, Russia and Mexico; Christian, Jew, Taoist, and Moslem melding together in one place. It is the story of the rise of plantations and sharecropping, of men and mules, and later of men and machines, now guided by satellites and controlled by computers, producing a cornucopia of corn and soybeans and rice and cotton and catfish. It is the story of the rise and subsequent fall of small town economies and the migration of people in search of new opportunities, either for personal liberty or employment. It is the story of the peopling of Chicago and Gary and Detroit. It is the story of man against nature and man against man, and the story of survival, struggle, triumph, failure and success.

The Delta is the story of the struggle for individual rights- the right to vote, the right to be represented, the right to equal employment and to personal respect. It is the story of artistic expression and the creation of new and beautiful art forms, including the Blues and Gospel and their continuing change into other musical forms. It is the story of great literature, landscape painting, photography, and poetry.

The Mississippi Delta has played such an important role in the American story that the National Park Service has written "Much of what is profoundly American- what people love about America- has come from the delta, which is often called 'the cradle of American culture."

Source: Essay written by Luther Brown, Associate Dean for Delta Regional Development, and Director, The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University

Photo courtesy Dux D'Lux Advertising.


Catfish farming in the Mississippi Delta
Photo courtesy Mississippi Delta Tourism Association, visitthedelta.com