Willis Elbert Mollison (1859—1924) was an American teacher, newspaper editor, politician, banker, businessman, lawyer, public official, and civil rights advocate in Mississippi.[1][2][3] He was a Republican.[4]
Early life and education
Willis Elbert Mollison was born on September 15, 1859 in Mayersville, Mississippi.[1] Martha née Gibson and Robert Mollison were his parents.[1] He studied at Fisk University's college preparatory school, and Oberlin College (class of 1883).[5][6]
Career
He wrote a book The Leading Afro-Americans of Vicksburg, Miss., Their Enterprises, Churches, Schools, Lodges and Societies (1908), about prominent African Americans in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[4]
Mollison was the president of Lincoln Park Land Company, a stockholder in the Lincoln Savings Bank of Vicksburg.[3] He was also the director of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company in Mound Bayou.[3]
Mollison published The Golden Rule a four-page weekly newspaper in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[7] He was also the owner of the National Star newspaper.[3] He moved to Chicago in 1917.
He died on May 11, 1924.[6]
His son, Irvin C. Mollison also was a lawyer and served as president of the Bar Association of Cook County, Illinois.[6]
References
- ^ a b c "Who's Who of the Colored Race: A General Biographical Dictionary of Men and Women of African Descent". 1915. p. 95.
- ^ "Mollison, W. E. – MS Civil Rights Project".
- ^ a b c d "Vicksburg Facts: Mollison fought for a better Mississippi". The Vicksburg Post. 2023-07-14. Archived from the original on 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2023-12-13.
- ^ a b The leading Afro-Americans of Vicksburg, Miss., their enterprises, churches, schools, lodges and societies;. Library of Congress, Washington DC: Biographia publishing co. 1908.
- ^ "W.E. Mollison, Vicksburg, Miss. and Scott Bond, Madison, Ark". Archived from the original on 2022-02-05. Retrieved 2023-08-14.
- ^ a b c Burke, W. Lewis (July 11, 2017). "Mollison, W. E." Mississippi Encyclopedia. Center for Study of Southern Culture.
- ^ "The Golden Rule (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1898-19??". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
Further reading
- Beacon Lights of the Race by Green Polonius Hamilton (1911)
- Entry by Irvin C. Mollison, Journal of Negro History 15, no. 1 (1930)
- Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844–1944 by J. Clay Smith Jr. (1993)