Fred Tom Mitchell Papers

Fred T. Mitchell was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi on July 4, 1891. He received his early education in both Shelton and Eastabuchie, Mississippi before attending Mississippi A. & M. College. As a student at A. & M., Mitchell became a member of the George Rifles Co. and served as editor of the 1913 Reveille yearbook. After conducting agricultural work in Panama and Costa Rica, Mitchell returned to the United States where he married Fannie Lou Short of Meridian, Mississippi in 1920.

For many years, Mitchell taught in the Arkansas public school system and was soon named as a member of the Arkansas Department of Public Instruction. In 1927, he earned a Master’s degree from Peabody and a doctorate from Cornell in 1931. He later joined the staff at Michigan State College as an associate professor of education, where he was later named Dean of Men. Mitchell accepted the position as president of Mississippi State College in 1945, leading the university to unprecedented enrollment, building, and expansion. In July 1953, Mitchell began to experience health issues and relinquished his position to Ben Hilbun. Mitchell died in December 1953.