Category: Back Story

Found in the University Archive, this image from the 1990s captured students playing hacky sack outside the Colvard Student Union. Before the union’s 2006 renovation, the stairs to the union were a popular gathering place for students between classes. Building on this sense of fun...

Mississippi State’s eighth president, Hugh Critz, may have been the most reluctant leader in the institution’s history. Born in 1876 as the oldest of seven children, Critz learned to handle horses and farm the land. Critz’s father, Wiley, earned his living running a livery stable...

This historic black-and-white image from the University Archives captures the Industrial Education and Seed Laboratory rising up in the background, a notable campus landmark with a rich past. Built in 1900 in the elegant Italianate style, this building originally served as the Textile Building, home...

The late-born son of a WWII prisoner of war, I knew that children were supposed to be “seen and not heard.” I never mastered that command. Though “ADD” before the disorder was cool, I knew to keep my butt still and my mouth shut when...

This 2003 photo from the University Archives shows the Bryan Building behind a picturesque Chadwick Lake. As the crown jewel of the university’s athletic expansion project in the 1990s, the $5 million facility was largely funded by the Bryan family of West Point and opened...

Winter 2023 My faded memory recalls: small bowls of green beans, field peas, corn, tomatoes, and the like, were $0.03-0.07 each in the 1940s. It was grown on the college farm and tasted like mother’s cooking. Tasty, inexpensive food made the transition from rural farm...

This undated photo from the University Archives shows two students entering Perry Cafeteria. Built in 1921, the hub for campus dining is a registered Mississippi landmark. It is slated to receive renovations and an expansion as part of a recently announced $30 million project to...

Summer 2023 I was a relatively new MSU graduate and was with my parents at the game. I don’t remember a lot about the game itself, but I do remember that after the game was over the Bama fans just sat there, mouths hanging open,...

We had some very good basketball teams that played in McCarthy Gym, including Bailey Howell. Babe McCarthy was a fantastic coach. You could hold the basketball as long as you wanted to. Coach would freeze the ball against Kentucky and the score might have been...

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught someone standing to my left, staring at me. It was none other than Paul “Bear” Bryant, waiting with a sheriff’s deputy to escort him across the field to their sideline. While my mouth was still agape,...