Preliminary Inventory of the Delta Health Center Records, 1966-1987

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Related Collections

Historical Note

The Delta Health Center was located in rural Mound Bayou, Bolivar County, Miss., and served Bolivar, Coahoma, Sunflower, and Washington counties, where poverty is widespread. The Center, which began as an affiliate of Tufts University and then became connected with the State University of New York at Stony Brook, merged with the Mound Bayou Community Hospital in the 1970s. The Center was largely supported by grants from federal programs, particularly those administered through the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Collection Overview

Records of the Delta Health Center, a rural health center in Mound Bayou, Miss., include correspondence and subject files, with many relating to seeking and administering funds from federal agencies. The addition of January 1995 contains an audiotape of a 1968 speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., at Mount Beulah, Miss. Note that boxes 15-17 and 47 are CLOSED to research until 2057.

Organization of Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

Materials are in files and notebooks as received, except for cases where the housing could not be maintained. Note that file folder and notebook names are largely those assigned by Delta Health Center office staff. Because materials have apparently been shifted about numerous times, these names may no longer reflect the exact contents of the folders/notebooks. Most materials date from the 1970s, but there are a small number of items from the late 1960s and a larger number from the 1980s. Note that personnel records (boxes 15-17) are CLOSED to research until 2057.

Grants (about 60 folders/notebooks, continued boxes 6-8): Grant applications and related materials, including quarterly and other reports that document the activities of the Delta Health Center. Grants involve the Office of Economic Opportunity, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. Grants marked "Comprehensive Health Service" were the Center's funding backbone. Included are files relating to the difficulties the Center had when funding from the Office of Economic Opportunity faltered in 1974.

Miscellaneous office files of the Delta Health Center, including financial records and the continuing grant application for 1988-1989. There are also files on nurse/midwifery and 1972 documents chartering the Center.

T-4613/24-32. Reel-to-reel audio tapes containing speeches/discussions of various persons, 1970-1971 and undated, among them a recording of Stokeley Carmichael speaking at North Carolina Central University in March 1970.

T-4613/23. Reel-to-reel audio tape (and cassette listening copy) of Martin Luther King, Jr., speech at Mt. Beulah, Miss., 16 February 1968.

Audio tapes of interviews with persons connected with the Delta Health Center. Interviews were conducted in 1992 by John Hatch and Martha Mounett. Release forms for all interviews are on file. Interviews are usable, but there are no abstracts or transcripts available.

Files of the Delta Health Center arranged in original order by file drawer. The box list below is based on lists of file drawer contents that were received with the materials. Note that box 47 is CLOSED to research until 2057.

TCCHAP: Renewal grant proposal, 21 December 1967. Contains cummulative quarterly report, 1966-1967: 1 February 1968-31 January 1969

Revised proposal, 15 January 1968: 1 February 1968-31 January 1969 contains budget justification for Delta's increased budget