Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1919-06-05
STATEMEN0RIAL To
WORLD WAR VETS
EVERY MIssloeIPPlAN SHOULD
BE PROUD OF OUR GALLANT
BOYS ACHIEVEMENTS.
TO SELECT LOCATION LATER.
Half a Million Dollars to BE Spent In
Erection of Great Building to Per-
petuate History of States
Part in War.

Vol Vic Ai0I NOIh III OuAAC uPOA
campaign to raise half million dol
lars for the building OF a State Memo,
rial to her sons who served during the
World War.
This state was the first in the Union
to lay plans for thus honoring its SOL
diers and sailors.
The drive will begin June rs and
conclude July 6. County quotas have
been worked out, based upon the num-
Der of men from the counties who en-
listed in the army or navy.
The states plan for Memorial Hall,
to be built at some point yet to be Sc,
lected, was born in this city early this.
year, when prominent men from all,
Cections gathered here and decided a,
state memorial would not only pay a,
moro appropriate tribute to the states.
soldiers, but would also guarantee that
every man who served would be hon.
ored.
The county or city memorial plan,
it was felt, not only frequently result,
ed in small, inartistic, and inappropri-i
ate memorials, but also in injustice,
as one town might honor its soldier.
sons with a memorial, while its neigh
boring city, with just as many heroes,
might leave them without memorial.
Rcnors All Alike
The state memorial provides for the,
preservation of the name of every Mis-
Lissippi fighter in eternal bronze, and
the name of every war worker and con.
tributor to the memorial fund in
bronze bound volumes.
r. E. Remington of Jackson was
elected state chairman at the first
meeting, with B. w. Griffith of Vicks'
burg as vice-chaiTman, e. l.. Bailey,
Jackson, secretary, and j. I. Thomas
OF Grenada, treasurer.
District chairmen were named as
follows,
First, Judge ]. Q. Robins, Tupelo;
second, Judge D. NJ. Kimbrough, Ok
ford; third, General S. r. Keesler,
Greenwood; fourth, A. 7 StoVall, Oko'
Iona; fifth, H. N Quin Meridian;
sixth, r. L. Simpson Gulfport; sew
enth, T. Brady, Jr.; eighth, J. T. Saw
age, Jackson.
The selection Of county chairman
was made entirely by the district
chairman, in order that the memorial
plan might be free of any sectional
faint. County chairmen have been
chosen for their ability as leaders, and
their response to the call to service
has been most enthusiastic.
H. NJ. K. Smith, of New York, Is
campaign manager for the drive. Mr.
Smith is well-known in Mississippi,
where he served as state campaign
manager in the Red Cross drive, in
which Mississippi subscribed $780,
900, the largest over-subscription re-
corded during the war for any state.
Many Approve CLANS.
Approval of the plan for a Memorial
Hall has come froIh former President
William Howard Taft, member of the
national committee on memorials;
from Secretary Of War Newton D. Ba'
ker, who wrote an enthusiastic letter OF
endorsement; United States Senators
John Sharp Williams and Pat Harrt
son; former United States Senator
James X. Vardaman; from the four
candidates for governor, and from fra
ternal and religious organizations all
over the state.
Here, in compact form, is told the
Ltory Of what the memorial will be:
The Mississippi state memorial to be
erected in honor Of the soldiers and
sailors Of the state will be in the form
of Memorial Hall, a building with
three distinctive features, to be known
as the Cougt of Honor the War MI
eeum and the Reunion Hall.
1t will be built after the memorial
fund has been raised by popular sub
scription, and the city in which it is
to be located will he chosen by the
votes Of the 80 county Ghairmen
The architectural details will be de
ternlined under the adyisement of the
National Memorial Association, Of
which ex-President William II. Taft is
the honorary chairman
The Court of Honor
The Court of Honor will contain
bronze panel Of Eeroic proportions for
each county of the state, upon which
will be inscribed the name of every
| man who entered he army or navy
from that county, and his record.
In the Court Of Honor there win
also be memorial tablets in honor Of
/ the Confederate veterans, the Span
ish-American war veterans, the Moth
ers OF Mississippi, and others.
In addition there viii be recorded in
permanent form the personnel Of ev.
cry Mississippi war organization such
as the Red Cross, the Draft Boards,
the Councils for Defense, Liberty Loan
organizations, and all others required
70 make complete record of those
who added to the war achievements Of
our state. Here also will be recorded
the name Of every subscriber to the
memorial fund.
The Court of Honor will be the pure
" commemorative feature Of the me-
| merrill