23 Important Mississippi Facts

By James Israelsen, Associate Writer

Published January 14, 2022

The name "Mississippi" comes from the Anishinabe tribe of Native Americans; the word means "Father of Waters."_[7]
Though it is not as famous as the Mississippi River, the Missouri River in the US is actually about 100 miles longer._[7]
Mississippi became the 20th US state in 1817._[16]
Alcorn State University, located in Mississippi's Claiborne County, is the nation's oldest African American land-grant college._[9]
One of the leading organizers of the US civil rights movement in the 1960s was Robert Parris Moses, who fostered student protests in Mississippi based on principles of community organization and mobilization._[15]
Mississippi's largest agricultural exports are poultry, soybeans, timber, and cotton._[6]

The Mississippi River System spans a huge portion of North America

When the Ohio and Missouri River tributaries are included as part of the Mississippi River, the river system ranks as the third largest in the world._[7]
Barq's Root Beer was invented by Edward Barq in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1897._[2]
Dr. James D. Hardy performed the first successful human lung transplant at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 1963._[3]
In 1964, Dr. James D. Hardy of the University of Mississippi transplanted a chimpanzee heart into a human. The heart beat for 90 minutes before stopping. The transplant sparked intense debate in the medical community._[4]
Mississippi boasts the longest man-made beach in the world. The beach runs 26 miles, from Biloxi to Henderson Point._[10]
In 1964, civil rights activists in Mississippi created the "Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party" to challenge the Mississippi Democratic Party, which only allowed White people to participate._[15]

Black activists and students fought for legal recognition and their place in the political process

Mississippi University for Women, founded in 1884, was the first state-funded female university in the country._[5]
Mississippi is home to the only petrified forest in the Eastern United States._[8]
Mississippi's state capital is Jackson._[16]
Henry A. Cole invented Pine-Sol while living by a pine forest outside of Jackson, Mississippi._[11]
The Mississippi Choctaw Native American tribe has reservation land near Jackson, Mississippi._[16]

The bears were immediate best-sellers

The "Teddy Bear" came about when President Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a cornered bear while on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi. The story spread, and stuffed bears named for him became a popular toy._[13]
Mississippi politics were, for most of the state's history, dominated by the entirely white Democratic Party. The civil rights movement in the state fought for political power for African Americans._[15][16]
Novelists William Faulkner and Eudora Welty were Mississippians._[1]
Mississippi is home to many famous musicians, including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Britney Spears, Jimmy Buffett, Faith Hill, Muddy Waters, and Tammy Wynette._[1]
Mississippi's nickname is the "Magnolia State." The Magnolia is also the state flower and state tree._[12]
The state motto of Mississippi is Virtute et armis, which means "By valor of arms."_[14]