Ruralist Press Papers

Collection

Identifier: MSS-74

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Cully A. Cobb/Ruralist Press papers consist of correspondence, reports, and other documents concerning the career and family of Cully A. Cobb (1884-1975), a 1908 graduate of Mississippi A&M College. The majority of the files were accumulated in the Atlanta, Georgia, offices of the Ruralist Press, which Cobb owned and directed from 1937 to 1971, but many papers concern Cobb's activities prior to his acquisition of the Press, such as his direction of the Cotton Division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration (1933-1937).

Among the many subjects are agriculture, Mississippi State University, the Southern Baptist Church, the Coca-Cola Company, 4-H Clubs, the printing industry, and the Ruralist Press. Correspondents include several United States Congressmen and other government officials. The collection is related closely to the Cully A. Cobb papers and the Lois P. Dowdle “Mrs. Cully” Cobb papers. All three collections overlap in subject matter and in chronological period.

Dates

1906 - 1972

Biographical Note

Cully Alton Cobb, Sr., son of Napolean Bonaparte Cobb and Mary Agnes Woodward Cobb was born on February 25, 1884 in Prospect, Giles County, Tennessee. He entered Miss. A&M in 1904 and graduated in 1908. He served as Superintendent of of Agricultural High School at Buena Vista, Miss. from 1908-1910, and then as Head of the Boy's Agriculture Club Division of Cooperative Extension, 1910-1918. In 1917 he was made Assistant Director of Agricultural Extension. He is best known as the editor of Southern Ruralist, 1918-1932, and for being in charge of the Cotton Division of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, 1933-1937. In 1937 he moved to Atlanta and took charge of Ruralist Press which he owned until 1971. Cobb passed away May 7, 1975, and was survived by his second wife, Lois P. Dowdle, and his two sons.

Further information can be found in the Cully A. Cobb papers; Lois P. Dowdle “Mrs. Cully” Cobb Papers; and Scott, Roy V. and J.G. Shoalmire. The Public Career of Cully A. Cobb: A Study in Agricultural Leadership. Jackson, Mississippi: University and College Press of Mississippi, 1973.