Mundell Lowe (born April 21, 1922) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, and conductor who has performed with many notable jazz and popular musicians. He produced film and TV scores in the 1970s, such as the Billy Jack soundtrack and music for Starsky and Hutch, and worked with André Previn‘s Trio in the 1990s.

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Thomas William “Tom” Lester (born September 23, 1938 in Laurel, MS) was an American actor and evangelist. He was best known for his role as farmhand Eb Dawson on the television show Green Acres. He appeared in two feature animal films, Gordy and Benji. He passed away on April 20, 2020, in Nashville, TN. Wikipedia

Newton Knight (November 1837 – February 16, 1922) was an American farmer, soldier and Southern Unionist, best known as the leader of the Knight Company, a band of Confederate Army deserters that turned against the Confederacy during the Civil War. Local legends state that Knight and his men attempted to form the “Free State of Jones” in the area around Jones County, Mississippi, at the height of the war.

After the war, Knight aided Mississippi’s Reconstruction government. Knight has long been a controversial figure. Historians and descendants disagree over his motives and actions, with some arguing he was a noble and pious individual who refused to fight for a cause in which he did not believe, while others have portrayed him as a manipulative outlaw. This controversy was fueled in part by Knight’s common-law marriage to a former slave, which effectively established a small mixed-race community in southeastern Mississippi.^[4] The marriage would have been considered illegal as Mississippi banned interracial marriages except from 1870–1880 during Reconstruction.

The 1942 James H. Street novel, Tap Roots, was inspired by Knight’s actions in the Civil War. The novel was the basis for the 1948 film of the same name, which was directed by George Marshall. The film ignored the interracial aspect, instead casting the tension as one of class.

 

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Mary Elizabeth Ellis (born May 11, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as The Waitress on the FX comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. She also starred in the NBC sitcom Perfect Couples and the Foxsitcom The Grinder.

Jason S. Campbell (born December 31, 1981)^[1] is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college football at Auburn.

Campbell also played for the Oakland Raiders, Chicago Bears, Cleveland Browns, and Cincinnati Bengals.

 

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Ralph Harold Boston (born May 9, 1939) is a retired American track athlete. An all around competitor, he is best remembered for the long jump, in which he was the first person to break the 27 feet (8.2 m) barrier.

Boston was born in Laurel, Mississippi. As a student at Tennessee State University, he won the 1960 National Collegiate Athletic Association title in the long jump. In August of the same year, he broke the world record in the event, held by Jesse Owens for 25 years. Already the world record holder, he improved the mark past 27 feet, jumping 27′ 1/2″ at the Modesto Relays on May 27, 1961.^[2]

He qualified for the Summer Olympics in Rome, where he took the gold medal in the long jump, setting the Olympic recordat 8.12 m (26 ft 7¹⁄₂ in), while narrowly defeating American teammate Bo Roberson by a mere centimeter.^[1]

Between the Olympic Games, Boston won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship in the long jump in 1961, 1962, 1963, and 1964. He also had the longest triple jump for an American in 1963. He returned to the Tokyo Olympics as the world record holder after losing the record to Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, then regaining the record a couple of months before the games. In the Olympic final, Boston exchanged the lead with Ter-Ovanesyan. Going into the fifth round, Boston was leading but fouled while both Lynn Davies and Ter-Ovanesyan jumped past him. On his final jump, he was able to jump past Ter-Ovanesyan, but could not catch Davies and ended winning the silver medal.^[1]

Although Boston lost the world record again to Ter-Ovanesyan, the national title and the #1 ranking in 1968, he continued to compete. When rival Bob Beamon was suspended from the University of Texas at El Paso, for refusing to compete against Brigham Young University, alleging it had racist policies Boston began to coach him unofficially.^[3] At the 1968 Olympics, Boston watched his pupil destroy the world record by jumping 8.90 m (29′ 2 1/2″). Boston was then 29 years old. He won a bronze medal behind Beamon and Klaus Beer and retired from competitions shortly thereafter.^[1] He moved to Knoxville, Tennessee, and worked for the University of Tennessee as Coordinator of Minority Affairs and Assistant Dean of Students from 1968 to 1975.^[4] He was the field event reporter for the CBS Sports Spectacular coverage of domestic track and field events. He was inducted into the USA Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1974 and into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985.^[5]

A Los Angeles Times article on Boston from August 2, 2010, coinciding roughly with the 50th anniversary of his initial world record, described him as a divorced great-grandfather who is writing an autobiography. He divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia and Knoxville.^[6]

 

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Jjathus Illimski “Jake” Allen (born January 19, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at Mississippi College. He also played for the Cleveland Browns.

 

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