History of Tutwiler, MS

Centuries ago,
high ground
in the Choctaw and Chickasaw lands
became known as
Charlie's Trace.
Hernando DeSoto and his followers
traveled this way
to the Mississippi River. 

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In the early 1800s
the boundaries of TallahatchieCounty
were determined,
and sometime after the Civil War,
the Prairie Plantation
 was carved from the wetlands
surrounding Charlie's Trace in this county.
 Slowly, other settlers came.

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Tutwiler is named for a railroad surveyor and was incorporated in the 1890s. As the railroads grew, so did the town, with as many as 23 passenger trains a day coming through and going in four different directions from Tutwiler. W.C.Handy, the Father of the Blues, first heard the Blues played by a plantation field hand sitting in the Tutwiler train station, where "the Southern cross the Dog," as the crossing tracks were called.

However, as the railroads declined, so did the town, leaving many buildings empty and uncared for; as businesses closed, the economy grew more depressed. In the 50s and 60s when plantations began to mechanize, more and more people became unemployed; a northern migration began. Many of those remaining were illiterate, and with no public transportation and few jobs, it became impossible to survive or to raise a family without government help.
  

In 1964 the Rural Health Initiative program built a clinic in Tutwiler, salaried a doctor until this federal program closed, and then donated the building to the town. Other doctors served the community for short periods; in 1981 a doctor from 40 miles away was coming one half day a week.

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In 1983 four Sisters of the Holy Names (one of whom Sister Anne Brooks,DO, is a physician) approached the Town Council, and were allowed to re-open the Clinic as a full time outpatient facility.

As the number of patients has increased over the years, there have been many additions to our staff, the building itself, and programs. Sister Cora Lee Middleton,RN, as Clinic Coordinator, helps keep our large medical staff efficient and knowledgeable. Geneva Byrd directs our office staff; Sister Joann Blomme, our licensed practical counselor, works closely with stressed and worried patients, with special attention to children's needs. She also coordinates our Bargain Barn (second hand store) where Magnolia Wilson helps local residents find things they need among recycled gently used items received from our donors.

Our emphasis on wholistic health underlined the need for outreach activities, and in 1987, Sister Maureen Delaney, a community organizer, joined our staff. Five years later, with the help of the W K Kellogg Foundation, the Tutwiler Community Education Center was built and incorporated as a separate entity, under the direction of Sister Maureen. The outreach programs moved there from the back room of the Clinic. And in 2003 a large gym was added, making our townspeople very proud.

With the addition of Sister Eileen Breen, a nurse practitioner, in 1996, it became possible for medical and outreach services to be extended to the people of Glendora, a tiny town 16 miles south of Tutwiler where a satellite clinic is open two days a week.

These efforts would not have been possible without the support and donations of many people throughout the United States who became aware of Tutwiler through national publicity. And it is their care and concern that enable the Clinic services to continue in the face of the increasing number of uninsured patients who seek our help. Sister Marilyn Pierson keeps in touch with our donors, edits our Newsletter 3 times a year, and alerts us to state and federal health legislation that will impact us.

To empower our patients for health is our goal; whether it is by caring for Clinic patients, making house calls, treating hospitalized patients or nursing home residents. In the process, a wonderful staff and innumerable caring donors have become part of our team and our gratitude extends to all of them.l