Mamie Lee Phillips Civil Rights Memoir

Mamie Lee Phillips was born in Pinola , Mississippi (Simpson County) on September 13, 1914, to Steve and Phenie Banks. Her siblings were Barnie, Naomi, Emry, Maggie, Charlie, Mary and Steve, Jr. She attended Alcorn Central Elementary School and Priest Creek High School, followed by one semester of college.

In 1940 she moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi and joined the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). On April 23, 1947, she married Charles H. Phillips, who was also active in the NAACP. Together, they spent the next twenty years participating in community projects, demonstrations and teaching government courses struggling to bridge the divide between disconnected communities in Hattiesburg .

Mrs. Phillips' civil rights activism spanned a period of almost 30 years, beginning in 1940 and culminating in the 1960s. She and her husband generously fed and housed more than 30 civil rights workers during the height of the civil rights movement in Hattiesburg in the 1960s. The couple owned and operated the In and Out Lunch Bar, a restaurant located at 600 S. Tipton Street in Hattiesburg. In addition, Mrs. Phillips served as manager of the Francis Street Apartments in Hattiesburg for more than eighteen years. Other career activities included work as a beautician and a musician. Fishing and gardening were among her hobbies.