Mississippi History

During World War II, a group of black soldiers were asked what should be done with Hitler if he were captured alive. Their response: "Paint him black and sentence him to life in Mississippi." --From "Attack on Terror: The FBI Against the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi," by Don Whitehead Everybody stared hard at the stage. A tall, angry man--his glasses steamy with perspiration, his face as red as his suspenders--was giving a stem-winding White Citizens Council stump speech.

During World War II, a group of black soldiers were asked what should be done with Hitler if he were captured alive. Their response: "Paint him black and sentence him to life in Mississippi." --From "Attack on Terror: The FBI Against the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi," by Don Whitehead Everybody stared hard at the stage. A tall, angry man--his glasses steamy with perspiration, his face as red as his suspenders--was giving a stem-winding White Citizens Council stump speech.

Regarding Charles Solomon's "Paperbacks" review of "Mississippi History" (Oct. 30), please be advised that "Yarbrough's fictional Delta town of Indianola" is, indeed, not fictional but an existing town. Further, it is where famed blues singer B.B. King is from! LAWRENCE COHN, BEVERLY HILLS

Question: My ancestor was a colonel in the British army at Ft. Pitt. In 1778 he received a Warrant of Survey for 400 acres in Mississippi. Where would I find records pertaining to ancestors who were in the British army prior to the Revolutionary War? Answer: Consult "American & British Genealogy & Heraldry" by P. William Filby. Several books that will be of interest to you are listed under "England/Professions."

Two wings of the San Diego State University Social Science Building will be renamed to honor historian Abraham Nasatir and retired geography professor Alvena Storm this fall. The two SDSU professors have taught at the school for a combined total of 90 years, Marilyn Boxer, dean of the College of Arts and Letters, said Tuesday. Nasatir, a professor emeritus, taught history for 50 years and is considered an expert on California and Mississippi Valley history.

Convicted murderer Frank Gholar owes his freedom and a well-paying job to Mississippi's resumption of an old Southern tradition, using prison inmates as servants in the antebellum governor's mansion. Only prisoners convicted of violent crimes qualify to serve the state's first family, and inmates facing life sentences are preferred, says Joseph Nix, director of executive security at the mansion.

Facing defeat on a party-line vote, Senate Republicans on Thursday were granted a week's delay in deciding the fate of embattled Mississippi trial judge Charles W. Pickering. An angry Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) accused "extreme left Washington interest groups" of "lynching" the 64-year-old judge for political gain.

The book that's causing the greatest anxiety and heart palpitations this summer--at least in some circles--may surprise you. It's not a mystery-thriller involving an attractive, young attorney. Nor is it a book about the latest revelations of scandal in the White House. It's the summer issue of Granta, that king of the high-brow literary quarterlies.

Louisiana State's celebration didn't last long. Just when it appeared a Hail Mary pass had given the Tigers a victory over Vanderbilt Saturday in a Southeastern Conference game at Nashville, Tenn., it was ruled that Todd Kinchen, who caught the pass, pushed cornerback Derek Wilham. The offensive pass-interference call enabled the Commodores to pull off a 24-21 upset.

Memorial services will be held Monday for Abraham P. Nasatir, a leading researcher and professor emeritus at San Diego State University, who died Friday at Mercy Hospital of complications from pneumonia. He was 85. Mr. Nasatir was considered a top U.S. historical researcher and an expert on California and Mississippi Valley history. He was born in Santa Ana, the son of Russian immigrants. He earned a doctorate in history from the University of California, Berkeley, when only 19 years old. Mr.