The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System has completed processing the papers of long-time New Hope educator Octavia Elizabeth Corr covering the 1910s-1980s. It was processed by Kaelynn Edmondson, MLIS graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi, during her archival practicum with the CLPLS this summer.

The collection pertains to Corr’s life and work as well as the history of New Hope High School. It includes three boxes of materials such as books, booklets, correspondences, financial records, invitations, letters, newspapers, photographs, and place cards. There are also other items like commencement announcements, plays, programs, short stories, tickets, and other ephemera.

Additionally, within the collection, there is a handmade scrapbook from the New Hope School Band Boosters Club covering 1923-1965. The scrapbook contains photographs, donation slips, and names of former students along with their immediate family members from five decades. It was created at the time of the Club’s formation in 1965 and presented to Dorothy Rae Everage Gillis for her efforts and support in organizing the club. The wood cover was made by Martin Ellis and the Trojan head on the cover was painted by Gracie Bell Nikoles Ward, the club’s first president.

The New Hope Band Boosters Scrapbook has been digitized and is now available on the Mississippi Digital Library (MDL) at msdiglib.org/columbus.

Octavia Elizabeth Corr was born on October 19, 1903, to William Albert and Mary Rispy Price Corr in Pickens County, Alabama. Her family lived in Alabama from the time of her birth until around 1920. At 16, she lived in Zion, Lowndes County, with her parents and four siblings – William, Lucile, Hazel, and John.

In 1927, Octavia completed a teacher’s certificate at the State Teacher’s College (now the University of Southern Mississippi) in Hattiesburg. Octavia was one of the founding teachers at the New Hope Consolidated School in 1923 and taught there for 46 years.

Additionally, Corr was a member of the New Hope United Methodist Church of Columbus, Delta Kappa Gamma (International Society for Key Women Educators), the Retired Teachers Association, and the Mississippi Retired Teachers Association.

Octavia died on December 29, 1986, and is buried at the New Hope Methodist Church Cemetery in Reform, Alabama.

The CLPLS works with the MDL out of the University of Southern Mississippi to make collections housed in the library archives available online to researchers worldwide. The MDL provides an online portal for discovery and access of digital collections throughout the state. To visit the MDL, go to msdiglib.org. For more information call (662) 329-5304 or email [email protected] .