Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1911-05-12
An INTERESTING DESCRIPTION
OF CHARLES BANKS, THE
LEADING FIGURE IN The
LIFE OF MOUND
BAYOU, MISS.

In the American Magazine, Booker
T. Washington, in the section devoted
% Interesting People" describes Mr..
Charles Banks, the leading figure In
the life of Mound Bayou. Mississippi.
Mr.. Washington says:
Down in the rich delta land Of the
Mississippi valley, midway between
Memphis and Vicksburg, Is a little
town owned and controlled solely by
negroes. Even to the aspiring black
man himself there is something
shockingly reverse to receive mail
from the hands of black postmaster,
to purchase tickets from . black tick
ct agent, and to have laws made and
enforced by black mayor, aided by
q black council and a black marshal.
Mound Bayou, Mississippi, the town
to which refer, was established some
twenty-five years ago by an ex-slave,
and ever since the landing Of the ne
gro pioneers the pulse of the village
has beaten steadily with progress and
gain. AS you alight from the train
you see nothing about you but black
faces, there being exceedingly few
who are even fair enough to pass for
white" Should you have reason to
make any inquiries. whatsoever, and
especially touching any business or
town politics, you will invariably be
answered, "See Banks"
And to see Banks you have merely
to look around you. A tall, big-bodied
man of pure African blood, with a
small round head and quick, swapping
eyes, in general build the very pat
tern of Jack johnson, will be seen
busily directing the loading Of cotton.
settling dispute or hurrying away
to the big cotton gin or the oil mill,
100000 plant, now nearing com
pletion under his direction always
busy, always ubiquitous, always brief,
settling disputes as it were by a sin.
gle stroke.
AS you meet Banks and talk with
him, think you are struck chiefly
with the air OF readiness about the
man. Sparing, even stingy, with
words. he nevertheless seems to know
every moment just what is to be done
In any given crisis. His easy, in.
formal manner Of wearing his clothes
seems to suggest at glance q read
iness to settle q fray or matters OF
more deliberative consequences; and
% review him now, after several
years Of work with him in all parts
Of the country and under many diff
ferent circumstances, cannot recall
that he ever IN any way seemed at a
loss or In the slightest degree puz-
zled as to what to do in crisis.
AS have already indicated, Banks
Is the moving spirit of Mound Bayou.
It was the task Of Isaiah T. Mont
gomery. the ex-slave of JEFF Davls's
brother, to blaze the way in the for
ests and begin this prosperous settle
ment, but It has been left for Charles
Banks to clear the village OF debt, to
extend the boundaries Of the town
several hundred acres, and to give the
whole community genuine business
character. He seems to be one Of
the few negro college graduates to ap-
ply himself to business in its larger
sense. A banker. a cotton broker, a
dealer in real estate, and a farmer, he
seems to have mastered thoroughly
the financier's secret that money in
creases itself and makes for service
by frequent turning over.
The printing press of the town, the
schools, the bottiing factory, the score
II various business houses. the cotton