Robert Hays Cleveland Collection

Robert H. "Ace" Cleveland joined the USM sports information office in 1955 and retired in 1986. Robert Cleveland was a pioneer in the sports information field. The press box at Southern’s M.M. Roberts Stadium was named in his honor in 1990.

A graduate of Southern Mississippi, Cleveland was a member of the Mississippi Sports Writers Hall of Fame and the USM Hall of Fame. As a student, he was Sports Editor of the Student Printz. He set a record for attending 325 consecutive USM football games as sports information director.

Earlier in his career, Cleveland worked eight years for the Hattiesburg American and one year with the Jackson Daily News.

Bob Hartley, sports information director emeritus at Mississippi State University, remembered Cleveland "as trying to get that story told in the daily print world so Southern could receive the recognition of much larger schools, in schools with more resources than Southern Mississippi had. I think Ace played a vast part in Southern Mississippi's history, certainly in its athletic history."

This collection, donated by Robert Hays “Ace” Cleveland, contains athletic media guides from college and professional sports teams, the Magnolia Classic, and Deposit Guaranty Classic.