Promise and Peril: Progressivism, Repression, and World War I

Promise and Peril1903–1927

The century began with promise. As airplanes roared across the skies, medical advances improved the way some people lived on the ground below. But rising floodwaters from the Mississippi River ravaged homes and businesses in 1927, and boll weevils infested cotton crops across the state. Which industries did Mississippians turn to when agriculture failed them? Explore the changes and challenges Mississippians faced at the turn of the century.

  • Touch an oversized boll weevil and examine a trap used to catch the pesky insects.
  • Witness the struggles of suffragettes Nellie Nugent Somerville and Belle Kearney on their quest for equal rights.
  • See a lamp used during the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, a World War I helmet, and Senator James Vardaman’s cape.