Pearl River Community College has a rich and storied history.
Thursday, the local school of higher education added a new display to its museum, the Emerging Technology Room. Inside are items many people may recognize, such a VCR, personal digital assistant complete with fold up keyboard, and an assortment of old computer hardware such as an Apple II that was used on campus.
PRCC was the first community college in the state of Mississippi, and one of the first 17 official community colleges established in the nation, said PRCC Museum Curator Ron Hague.
The school was originally an agricultural high school, but in 1921 the first freshman college course was added to the curriculum. Hague said a year later steps were taken to make that course legal.
PRCC’s history also includes former school president Garvin Johnston, who left the college to become the State Superintendent of Education and would later lead the state through school integration, Hague said.
PRCC was also the first junior college in the nation to have an ROTC program.
Other artifacts displayed in the museum include a dress made by a Poplarville woman in 1908, video and camera equipment from various decades and a mock dorm room reminiscent of the 1940s and 50s. All of the items on display at the museum were used at some point at the college during its history, Hague said. The items were previously on display in its respective department, until Hague requested items to showcase in the museum.
Hague said that the museum will be 15 years old this year, and there are plans for more displays. One such display will honor former graduates who fought in World War II and will be called Pearl River College Goes to War. One of the men the display will honor is Shelby Speights, a WWII veteran who earned five Silver Star Medals in the span of 90 days.
Another addition to the museum will be a kiosk that will allow visitors to watch and view all of the video and photos that have been digitally preserved so far. Hague said the college has about 100,000 feet of video film on hand, and is employing the skills of staff and students to digitize that footage to save on the expense involved. He said it costs about $1 a foot to digitize old video footage.
In the future, Hague said he plans to submit a lot of the video footage to Archives.org, so the general public can view it from anywhere.
Investment into the museum has been done at the least expense possible, costing a total of $15,000 Hague said. That has been achieved through a series of in-kind services, such as employing students and staff to build many of the cases used to display the items.
PRCC President Dr. William Lewis said he would like to construct a new building on campus to house the museum at some point in the future.