Emmet James Stringer (1919 - 1995)

Born 16 Sep 1919 in Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Flora Charlene (Ghist) Stringer — married 17 Aug 1942 in Maricopa, Arizona, United States

Died 6 Sep 1995 at age 75 in Columbus, Lowndes, Mississippi, United States

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Biography

Emmet James Stringer is Notable.

This profile is part of the Mound Bayou, Mississippi One Place Study.

Original Settler of Mound Bayou Dr. Emmett James Stringer was the first black man to register to vote in Columbus, Mississippi. He was president of Mississippi's NAACP in the '50s and an influential leader in the African American community in Columbus, Mississippi. He was a doctor, preacher, writer, activist, and humanitarian.^[1]

Dr. Emmet James Stringer was born on September 16, 1919 in Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi, United States, son of Young Marion Stringer (1878– ) and Janie Fortune Hargraves (~1892–1982).^[2]

In 1920, Emmet was an infant living in household of his father Young Stringer (43), mother Janie and brother Charles (2) in Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi. ^[2]

In 1930, Emmet was 10 years old living in household of his father Young M Stringer (52) on Washington Ave, Mound Bayou, Bolivar, USA. ^[3]

Emmett Stringer graduated from Alcorn College in 1941, served in the army, and then graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville. Newly credentialed as a dentist, he moved to Columbus, Mississippi, where he and his wife, Flora Ghist Stringer, a teacher, became leaders in the African American community. Emmett married Flora Charlene Ghist on 17 Aug 1942 in Maricopa, Arizona, United States.^[4] They had a child,

Eron D. Stringer

NAACP

Stringer helped organize the NAACP chapter in Columbus in 1953 and was elected the organization’s state president that same year. He organized responses to the Brown v. Board of Education decision the following year.

Also in 1953 he sought African American volunteers to apply to the University of Mississippi, a request that helped prompt Medgar Evers to apply to the university’s law school. "In the late 1950s and early 1960s, police officers, sheriffs, and investigators for the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission consistently looked into Stringer’s actions as well as those of his friend, pharmacist James Allen. One secret memo claimed that Stringer had “quieted down,” but another investigator claimed, “All officials in Lowndes County have their eyes on Dr. Stringer. They say they would not put anything past Stringer when it came to conniving for integration.”^[5]

(See Flora Stringer's profile for the rebuttal she wrote to the Mississippi's Sovereignty Commission regarding Emmett's involvement with the NAACP).

In 1990 a federal housing project in Columbus, Mississippi was named Stringer House after him. Emmet died on September 6, 1995, aged 75.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Clarion-Ledger. (March 18, 1988). Dr. E. J. Stringer and ancestors. Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 22, 2023, from https://www.newspapers.com/article/clarion-ledger-dr-e-j-stringer-and-an/125099504/
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} 1920 Census:"1920 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1920; Census Place: Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi; Roll: T625_871; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 18
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6061 #48373820 (accessed 22 May 2023)
   Emmett Stringer (0), single son, in household of Young Stringer (43) in Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi. Born in Mississippi.
3. ↑ 1930 Census: "1930 United States Federal Census"
   Year: 1930; Census Place: Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi; Page: 6B; Enumeration District: 0020; FHL microfilm: 2340874
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 6224 #36365172 (accessed 22 May 2023)
   Emmett Stringer (10), single son, in household of Young M Stringer (52) on Washington Ave, Mound Bayou, Bolivar, Mississippi, USA. Born in Mississippi.
4. ↑ Marriage of wife Flora Charlene Ghist: "Arizona, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1865-1972"
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 60873 #204633 (accessed 23 May 2023)
   Emmett James Stringer marriage in Maricopa, Arizona, USA.
5. ↑ Mississippi Encyclopedia Entry for Emmett J. Stringer
6. ↑ Obituary: "U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current"
   The Commercial Appeal; Publication Date: 13 Sep 1995; Publication Place: Memphis, Tennessee, USA; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/774569318/?article=b0a03e27-bb9b-4ae8-8bae-c1675766f832&focus=0.03267418,0.046491463,0.19860095,0.61811715&xid=3355
   Ancestry Record 61843 #887729772 (accessed 23 May 2023)
   Name: Emmett J Stringer; Gender: Male; Death Age: 76; Birth Date: abt 1919; Death Date: Abt 1995; Obituary Date: 13 Sep 1995; Obituary Place: Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Newspaper Title: The Commercial Appeal; Spouse: Flora G Stringer; Child: Eron D Stringer; Siblings: Portia Childers.

• E. J. Stringer and Catfish Alley's Long History