Articles by Rufus Ward
Ask Rufus: The heritage behind a change of command
On Monday, I attended the change of command ceremony at Columbus Air Force Base. Major Gen. Clark Quinn, commander of the 19th Air Force, presided at the ceremony, which dates to the time of the Revolutionary War.
Ask Rufus: Plymouth Bluff
This week, I spoke to two groups of community college students from Mississippi and Louisiana who were at Mississippi University for Women for a regional honors institute.
Ask Rufus: The early gardens of Columbus
On Thursday night I took a group of visiting Chickasaw, Choctaw and Mississippi State University archaeologists on a walking tour of the Southside Historic District in Columbus.
Ask Rufus: Memorial Day at Friendship Cemetery
Columbus was not the first place where flowers were placed as a healing act on graves of soldiers.
Ask Rufus: Memories of ‘A Most Strange Wedding of the Frogge and the Mouse’
As we grow older certain occurrences of childhood often come to mind.
Ask Rufus: My father’s longest journey
Sunday marks 80 years since my father, Rufus Ward Sr., started his longest journey.
Ask Rufus: Walking through history
It is springtime, and next week is shaping up for some pretty days. It will be the perfect time to go for a walk on the Columbus Riverwalk.
Ask Rufus: ‘By the flow of the inland river; Whence the fleets of iron have fled.’
The poem “The Blue and the Gray” by Judge F.W. Finch of New York was inspired by the April 25,1866, actions of the ladies of Columbus decorating the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried in Friendship Cemetery.
Ask Rufus: Dr. John Richards, Columbus’ connection to the Titanic
Last Tuesday afternoon I was on Mississippi Supertalk Radio’s “Good Things With Rebecca Turner” program telling about a Mississippi connection to the Titanic.
Ask Rufus: A timeline of the founding of Columbus
I’m always digging into southern history with Carolyn Kaye and Gary Lancaster, and new information is constantly turning up.
Ask Rufus: Columbus, an architectural gem
Columbus has for more than 200 years been a cultural crossroads. That diversity of people led to Columbus having a unique mix of architectural styles found in its early buildings.
Ask Rufus: Stories told by a silver case and a Turkish corner
I recently got into a conversation about Turkish corners, a popular decorative fad in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. I was asked why I hadn’t written about them.
Ask Rufus: MSU Opera sings the blues
Mississippi’s music is the blues, and though African American in origin, it transcends race and culture.
Ask Rufus: The Tombigbee bridges
With work going on to repair the 1928 Tombigbee bridge at the foot of Main Street, several people have asked me about the history of the river bridges at Columbus.
Ask Rufus: Historic ‘Old Main’ Hall at MUW
On the MUW campus one of the structures I heard recently referred to as “just an old building” is Callaway Hall, an architectural masterpiece.
Ask Rufus: Rev. John Wesley’s Chickasaw interview
I enjoy talking about Mississippi history with my longtime friend Roger Wicker. With his being from Tupelo and enjoying history, tidbits of history from northeast Mississippi are always fun to pass along.
Ask Rufus: Tombigbee steamboats of 1857
On Jan. 12, 1857, the The New Orleans Times-Picayune ran a notice for the Cox Brainard & Co. of Mobile providing “New Arrangements” for their steamboats on the Alabama, Warrior and Tombigbee Rivers.
Ask Rufus: Rural changes and crossroads
Currently the Smithsonian’s “CROSSROADS Change in Rural America” traveling exhibit is at the Black Prairie Blues Museum in downtown West Point. The exhibit traces the changes in rural areas across America.
Ask Rufus: The enduring legacy of four friends
On Thursday I listened to the Supreme Court arguments in the case of Trump v. Colorado. I guess, being a recovering attorney, I was particularly interested in the back and forth between the lawyers and the Supreme Court justices.
