Founding: 1870s-1884

Peyton originally advocated for the first state-funded school at Whitworth College in Brookhaven, Mississippi, but Brookhaven proved to be nothing more than a failed experiment as Whitworth, a Methodist funded university, had to cease funding by the church before it could be subsidized by the state due to a section in Mississippi’s State Constitution which denied funding to any school controlled by a religion or relgious sect.1 After a conference in Meridian, Mississippi, it was determined by a board of educators that this change of ownership (and subsequent legalities) was unbeneficial to the students and the school, and the matter was dropped.

 

This event did not end Peyton's quest for equal education amongst the sexes. She soon after revised her plans to fit the state constitution and concluded that a new and original university would have to be created to achieve funding by the state. As a result of this revelation, she helped draft Senate Bill 264 for an all-female, state-funded normal school (also known as a teaching school), and, in 1880, it passed the Senate, but according to historian Sheldon Scott Kohn what happened next was murky. The bill failed even to make it to the House because "in the absence of the able senator who introduced the bill, the papers were lost."2 Peyton was aware of the criticism of her, but she refused to be wounded by it. In a letter to her friend Reverend HF Johnson, on February 8th, 1882, Peyton recalls the ridicule she received for her hard work [x]:

 

“I started out with that motive, believing the State ought to do something for girls, that it would be as well or better to enlarge and build up Whitworth. But people laughed at me...”3

 

As a result of the two previous defeats, Annie Peyton decided to forgo her political quest for the time being and began to push for a female state school at the grassroots level by writing to numerous Mississippi newspapers. Writing mainly to the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi, Peyton wrote passionately of the "importance of the State educating her white daughters."4 It is here she gained her famous moniker as a “Mississippi Woman” in 1881. In her letters to the various newspapers, Peyton never signed with her legal name. This adoption of the character “Mississippi Woman” allowed for readers to understand that the women of the state wanted this, not just one specific person. She embodied the wants of the Mississippi women and promoted them all across the state. These public messages garnered much support and publicity for her cause, especially from prominent men in the state. With much support from the residents and leading men of Mississippi, Peyton pushed for another legislative bill, best known as the Martin Bill. The bill, as detailed by an acquaintance of Peyton in a tribute to her after her death, "advocated the establishment of a school by the state where girls could work and pay a part of their expenses.”5 And on March 12, 1884, Peyton's dream finally became a reality and the Industrial Institute and College was founded.

 

 

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1 Mississippi History Now, The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 as originally adopted, Mississippi Historical Society, 2000. Accessed October 17, 2013. http://mshistorynow.mdah.state.ms.us/articles/103/index.php?s=extra&id=270.

2 Sheldon Scott Kohn, The Literary and Intellectual Impact of Mississippi’s Industrial Institute and College, 1884-1920. PhD diss., Georgia State University, 2007. Accessed September 15, 2013. http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=english_diss, 78.

3 Letter from Annie Coleman Peyton to Reverend HF Johnson, February 8, 1882. 17th folder, lot 441. The Peyton Collection. Mississippi University for Women Archives.

4 Speech by Judge Edward Mayes, no date. 38th folder, lot 441. The Peyton Collection. Mississippi University for Women Archives.

5 “A Tribute to Annie Coleman Peyton” by S.C. Caldwell, no date. 38th folder, lot 441, The Peyton Collection, Mississippi University for Women Archives.

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