Skip to main content

Selby Parker Collection

 Collection
Identifier: M590

Scope and Contents

Folder 1 contains a three-page essay written by Selby Parker on the “Kings Stave Mill Company Store,” which was organized outside of Vicksburg following the Mississippi River flood of 1927 and provided for mill workers. The essay highlights the Company Store’s acceptance of credit and the subsequent economic hardships of white and African American mill workers and tenant farmers.

Folder 2 houses a sixty-one page reflection, Confessions of a Counselor, in which Parker details his experiences as Youth Court Counselor in Hattiesburg, Mississippi from 1960-1964. Parker recounts his associations with the African American community of Mobile Street, comments on the treatment of Clyde Kennard, and recalls Civil Rights protests that occurred in the city. Parker’s perspective as Youth Court Counselor is pronounced, as he emphasizes working with children and juveniles. He also discusses Hattiesburg’s police force, the court system, and his general thoughts on the town and university.

Folder 3 includes miscellaneous articles written by and pertaining to Selby Parker’s career as Youth Court Counselor and author. Many of the articles are photocopied from The Clinton News (Clinton, Mississippi), where Parker wrote opinion pieces.

Dates

  • Creation: 1951
  • Creation: circa 1960-1964
  • Creation: 2004-2009; undated

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

Dr. Selby Parker Sr. is a native of Vicksburg and attended public schools in Vicksburg. He received his Doctor of Education Degree in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1974. He was awarded a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1963 and completed his Bachelor of Science Degree at Mississippi State University in 1956.

A U.S. Navy veteran, he was appointed the first Youth Court Counselor under the Youth Court Act to serve in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in 1960. He joined the staff of the Basic College at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1964 and served as a college counselor for seven years.

Upon completion of his course work at the University of Southern Mississippi for the doctorate in education he was employed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, New Orleans, Louisiana as a counseling psychologist in 1970. Following a tour of duty at the VA Regional Office he was assigned to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana in 1974. He worked part time as an adjunct professor for Northwestern State University teaching psychology to medical students.

In 1984 he assumed the position of chief of vocational and rehabilitation and counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Regional Office, Jackson, Mississippi. He later retired with over 33 years of service to veterans and their dependents.

Books written by Selby Parker:

The Man from Bandera

The Camel Boy, a novel about the Civil War

Scopophilia

Extent

.25 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Selby Parker collection consists of one essay, a typescript, and miscellaneous articles written by and pertaining to the Mississippi author and former Youth Court Counselor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi. This collection is of particular interest to researchers studying the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi authors and journalists, the University of Southern Mississippi, and local Hattiesburg history.

Arrangement

This small collection consists of three folders.

Provenance

Donated by Selby Parker on January 28, 2009; August 20, 2009; May 19, 2010.

Books

The man from Bandera: a novel by Selby Parker, c2004. McCain Library, 3rd Floor Brooks Reading Room Mississippiana Stacks PS3616.A7598 M36 2004

Related Materials

Dissertation: The Usefulness of the Holland Vocational Preference Inventory in Assessing the Congruency of Proposed Vocational Objectives of Veterans by Selby M. Parker, 1974. Available in Cook and McCain Libraries, UB356 .P37 1974.

The Man from Bandera: a Novel by Selby Parker. Available in McCain Library, Mississippiana PS3616.A7598 M36 2004.

M27, United States of America vs. Theron C. Lynd, Registrar of Voters for Forrest County, Mississippi - Legal case

M325, Glenda Funchess Civil Rights Collection

M406, Civil Rights in the South Collection

M561, Melinda Haynes Papers

M588, Hattiesburg Civil Rights Film

Sources

Case File

Contents from the collection

“Ruby Fay Lyons Parker,” Obituary, Clarion-Ledger, March 11, 2018

Title
Selby Parker Collection
Status
Completed
Author
Collection processed and finding aid written by Jonathan Puckett
Date
16 January 2020
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository

Contact:
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345