CHARM

Consortium for the History of Agricultural and Rural Mississippi

About CHARM

CHARM (Consortium for the History of Agricultural and Rural Mississippi) seeks to promote understanding and appreciation of the role played by agriculture, forestry, and rural life in Mississippi's past by collecting, preserving, and providing access to important historical materials as a foundation for teaching, learning, and research.

Materials in the Digital Collection

Selected materials from the collections in CHARM continue to be added to the digital collection. These include photographs, reports, and records from the MSU Extension Service, personal diaries and correspondence, business ledgers, daybooks, deeds, correspondence and other records relating to agriculture and timber industries, exhibition catalogs from fairs, and records of the cotton trade.

Collections

CHARM Digital Collection

Selected materials from the collections in CHARM continue to be added to the digital collection. These include photographs, reports, and records from the MSU Extension Service, personal diaries and correspondence, business ledgers, daybooks, deeds, correspondence and other records relating to agriculture and timber industries, exhibition catalogs from fairs, and records of the cotton trade.

Langfitt Farm Families of the Week

From 1954-1961, WLBT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi sponsored a program which was the creative product of Howard Langfitt (1919-1997), Farm Services Director. "RFD Televisit", an agricultural news and educational program, aired from 12:25-1:00 P.M. Monday through Friday and was sponsored by Hercules Powder Company, Monsanto, various rural electrification systems, and other companies that had an interest in the rural television market. Each program included farm news, agricultural weather and some type of demonstration of an approved farming or homemaking project. Langfitt relied heavily on county agricultural extension agents for projects and suggestions that went into producing the show.

After leaving WLBT in 1961, Langfitt retained the film negatives and scripts which make up the collection. 366 families are represented in the collection by 342 television scripts, and some 16,600 negative images. The collection does not contain film or audio of any portion of the programs.

Forest Resources Tool Collection

The Cully A. Cobb Antique Tool Museum contains over 350 antique woodworking tools, farm implements, and household equipment. Items date to the 17th century, including axes, saws, planes, hammers, drills, chisels, adzes, mauls, and plow stocks. The digitization of these objects is an ongoing effort as part of the CHARM initiative.