There are millions of people who have felt the need to join with others for a specific purpose. That is true of the citizens of Tate County. Men and women, boys and girls of all ages felt a call to join an organization or club.
Children and teenagers joined sports clubs, dance troupes, or clubs related to specific subjects. In the 1950’s Peewee/Little League sports was introduced to Senatobia. The Boy Scouts program came along c.1918-1920. The boys and girls were introduced to 4-H around 1910. Then there were the chess clubs, beta clubs and more that Tate County youth benefited from.
The adults had even more opportunities to ‘join’. The Free Masons came to the area in the 1860’s and Masonic Lodges were established in the larger communities (i.e., Hernando, Holly Springs, Senatobia, Batesville) in the years following. The Senatobia Cosmopolitan Club was established in 1902, the Culture Club in 1924. The Senatobia Eastern Star came in 1926. The Daughters of the American Revolution was established to cover multi-counties including Tate in 1942. The Northwest Mississippi Shriners began in 1946. The Coldwater Eastern Star in 1947. The Lions Club opened their chapter in 1948. The Senatobia Garden Club opened in 1973. The Friends of the Senatobia Library had its beginning in 1976 and the Coldwater Friends in 1990. The Optimists began in 1990.
This is just a short list of clubs and organizations that are part of our history. There are fraternities and sororities, football, basketball, soccer teams, as well as garden clubs, farm and ranch related associations, book clubs and so the list goes on. Each club or organization has its purpose and serves to meet a need for its members.
Such is the case for Tate County Genealogical and Historical Society. Since our beginning in 1983 our members have made it their purpose to preserve the history of our County and to make that history available to anyone who wants to learn about their connections to the people who made Tate County their home. We have thousands of books on our shelves, hundreds of reels of microfilm, hundreds of surname files, any of which may hold something about your ancestor, and we also provide access to online resources.
The members who compiled The Heritage of Tate County included brief histories of the organizations listed above and many more. In some it includes the names of those instrumental in bringing them to Tate County. There are other resources in our library that give names of members and years they were involved. We have the Tate Democrat/Record on microfilm and there are articles that detail momentous events of these various clubs and organizations. Our librarians will be happy to help you search for information on these clubs and organizations.
If you have information on any club or organization related to Tate County, we welcome donations of data that can be made available to researchers. If you are interested in history, becoming a member of TCG&HS is a way to support the preservation of Tate County History. Individual membership is $15.00 annually and family membership is $18.00 annually.
The library is located on the second floor of the Crockett Building, 107 Court Street. We are now open to researchers on THURSDAY and FRIDAY (except prior to a holiday) from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (PLEASE CALL if you’ll arrive after 3 p.m.).
You may contact us at tatehistory@hotmail.com or call 662-562-0390 and leave a message on voice mail with details of how you think we can help.
