Category: Back Story

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,...

An iconic photo of the scoreboard at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium in Jackson shows the final tally in the Mississippi State University football team’s improbable 6-3 upset of No. 1 Alabama on Nov. 1, 1980.