Centreville in Wilkinson County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

Anne Moody

Mississippi Freedom Trail

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2025

1. Anne Moody Marker, Side One

Inscription.

Anne Moody. Mississippi Freedom Trail. Side 1. Anne Moody was an important activist and voice of the civil rights movement. In 1963, as a student at Tougaloo College, Moody took part in the sit-in protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson. She worked for CORE in Canton during Freedom Summer and assisted with voter registration campaigns in the face of violent threats. In 1967, she published her acclaimed memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, which detailed her experience with racism and her work in the movement., Side 2. Anne Moody grew up as a poor Black girl in the Jim Crow South. Despite her limitations, she found courage in the midst of bigotry and racial violence in a segregated society. Moody risked her life in her fight for civil rights for African Americans, suffering mob violence and enduring multiple incarcerations in her efforts to bring about change. She exhibited courage as she fought for justice through voter registration and demonstrating for equal access to public places. Born September 15, 1940, in Centreville, Mississippi, she was named "Essie Mae" at her birth, but she adopted the name "Anne" after she learned that her name was incorrectly recorded as "Annie Mae" on her birth certificate. Her parents, Fred Moody, Sr. and Elmira "Too Sweet" Williams, worked as sharecroppers on various cotton plantations in southwest Mississippi., Moody became active in the civil rights movement while attending Tougaloo College in the early 1960s. After joining the NAACP, she began working in peaceful demonstrations that included boycotting the Mississippi State Fair. She attended campus rallies featuring Medgar Evers, Mississippi NAACP field secretary. She also became friends with fellow student Joan Trumpauer, Freedom Rider and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Moody worked with SNCC on its voter registration efforts in Greenville. On May 28, 1963, Moody joined her classmates Memphis Norman and Pearlena Lewis and others for a sit-in protest at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson. In an iconic photo of the scene, she is pictured with Tougaloo Professor John Salter and Joan Trumpauer as they are violently assaulted by a White mob that showered them with condiments and racial slurs. In her presence, Salter was burned with cigarettes and attacked with brass knuckles and broken glass., Following the sit-in, Moody led workshops that taught new recruits how to protect themselves. Days later, she and a group of ministers and Tougaloo students staged a pray-in on the steps of the office in downtown Jackson as they faced a mob with "murder in their eyes." Police arrested and jailed Moody along with the other protesters. Moody was arrested again following a march protesting the death of Medgar Evers, who was assassinated on June 12, 1963. On the Sunday following Evers's funeral, Moody, under the guidance of Tougaloo Chaplain Ed King, worked to integrate White churches in Jackson. Her continued agitation for racial justice caught the attention of White supremacy groups, resulting in her photo being published on a "Klan black- list." After leaving Mississippi and moving to New York City in 1964, Moody began writing about her life experiences at the suggestion of baseball great Jackie Robinson. In December 1968, her memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, became an international bestseller and required reading in high schools, colleges, and universities throughout America. The book, said her mentor John Salter, "guarantees her immortality." Anne Moody died on Feb. 5, 2015, at her home in Gloster, Mississippi. She was 74.

Side 1
Anne Moody was an important activist and voice of the civil rights movement. In 1963, as a student at Tougaloo College, Moody took part in the sit-in protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson. She worked for CORE in Canton during Freedom Summer and assisted with voter registration campaigns in the face of violent threats. In 1967, she published her acclaimed memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, which detailed her experience with racism and her work in the movement.

Side 2
Anne Moody grew up as a poor Black girl in the Jim Crow South. Despite her limitations, she found courage in the midst of bigotry and racial violence in a segregated society. Moody risked her life in her fight for civil rights for African Americans, suffering mob violence and enduring multiple incarcerations in her efforts to bring about change. She exhibited courage as she fought for justice through voter registration and demonstrating for equal access to public places. Born September 15, 1940, in Centreville, Mississippi, she was named "Essie Mae" at her birth, but she adopted the name "Anne" after she learned that her name

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was incorrectly recorded as "Annie Mae" on her birth certificate. Her parents, Fred Moody, Sr. and Elmira "Too Sweet" Williams, worked as sharecroppers on various cotton plantations in southwest Mississippi.

Moody became active in the civil rights movement while attending Tougaloo College in the early 1960s. After joining the NAACP, she began working in peaceful demonstrations that included boycotting the Mississippi State Fair. She attended campus rallies featuring Medgar Evers, Mississippi NAACP field secretary. She also became friends with fellow student Joan Trumpauer, Freedom Rider and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Moody worked with SNCC on its voter registration efforts in Greenville. On May 28, 1963, Moody joined her classmates Memphis Norman and Pearlena Lewis and others for a sit-in protest at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson. In an iconic photo of the scene, she is pictured with Tougaloo Professor John Salter and Joan Trumpauer as they are violently assaulted by a White mob that showered them with condiments and racial slurs. In her presence, Salter was burned with cigarettes

Anne Moody Marker, Side Two image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2025

2. Anne Moody Marker, Side Two

and attacked with brass knuckles and broken glass.

Following the sit-in, Moody led workshops that taught new recruits how to protect themselves. Days later, she and a group of ministers and Tougaloo students staged a pray-in on the steps of the office in downtown Jackson as they faced a mob with "murder in their eyes." Police arrested and jailed Moody along with the other protesters. Moody was arrested again following a march protesting the death of Medgar Evers, who was assassinated on June 12, 1963. On the Sunday following Evers's funeral, Moody, under the guidance of Tougaloo Chaplain Ed King, worked to integrate White churches in Jackson. Her continued agitation for racial justice caught the attention of White supremacy groups, resulting in her photo being published on a "Klan black- list." After leaving Mississippi and moving to New York City in 1964, Moody began writing about her life experiences at the suggestion of baseball great Jackie Robinson. In December 1968, her memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi, became an international bestseller and required reading in high schools, colleges, and universities throughout

Anne Moody Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cajun Scrambler, December 28, 2025

3. Anne Moody Marker

America. The book, said her mentor John Salter, "guarantees her immortality." Anne Moody died on Feb. 5, 2015, at her home in Gloster, Mississippi. She was 74.

Erected 2025 by Visit Mississippi, Mississippi Humanities. (Marker Number 57.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Civil Rights • Women. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Freedom Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is September 15, 1940.

Location. 31° 4.758′ N, 91° 9.077′ W. Marker is in Centreville, Mississippi, in Wilkinson County. It is on Mississippi 24 west of Old Highway 24, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 8786 MS-24, Centreville MS 39631, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Mississippi and in Natchez Trace Corridor.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically,

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it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Midway Methodist Church (approx. 4.6 miles away); Camp Van Dorn (approx. 4.7 miles away); a different marker also named Anne Moody (approx. 5.1 miles away); Centreville (approx. 6.6 miles away); Rosemont (approx. 7.4 miles away); West Feliciana Railroad (approx. 8½ miles away); Barber-Wallace House (approx. 8.6 miles away); Wax House (approx. 8.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Centreville.

Credits. This page was last revised on December 29, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 29, 2025, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana. This page has been viewed 122 times since then and 99 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 29, 2025, by Cajun Scrambler of Assumption, Louisiana.