Guzman-Gomez 1 The reason I wrote this essay is because when I was reading Before Katrina I did not have

a lot of knowledge about the city of Gulfport. This research helped me understand where Gulfport was located and the history that was behind the city. Gulfports History before the Devastation of Katrina The United States gulf coast has been battered over and over again by hurricanes and tropical storms. The people that dwell in this place, no matter the circumstances, keep building their cities back up and waiting until another natural disaster comes again to break it down once more. In Beyond Katrina, by Natasha Trethewey, there is a chapter in which Natasha describes the activity in Gulfport, Mississippi when her grandmother was a child. She tells us how Gulfport grew and how her grandmother and her siblings grew with the city. The chapter, Before Katrina, takes us back to a time when the city of Gulfport flourished and grew despite the tropical storms that hit and the many hurricanes that took a toll on the city. For us to understand where Trethewey is coming from we need to take a closer look at the history of Gulfport: when it was established and what other establishments followed, how the civil rights affected the area, the geography of Gulfport, and the history of storms that scarred the area. William Harris Hardy1 founded Gulfport in 1887. When Hardy was appointed in 1887 as president of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad Company (G&SIRR) he established a railroad station which would later become the city of Gulfport. Joseph T. Jones2 also co-founded the city of Gulfport. When Hardy was elected onto the Mississippi State Senate, Jones took over the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad Company, and became president of the company. He created the harbor of Gulfport by carving an opening to the Gulf of Mexico, opening the way to hundreds of shipping boats, and he became the sole owner of the G&SIRR when he bought out his partners in March 1901. In 1902 Gulfport became a seaport where ships came and went making Gulfports

Guzman-Gomez 2 harbor a very active place. Activity was out and about along the coast of Gulfport; from this point on the city began to boom with businesses growing and attractions luring tourism to its coasts. The paving of the roads in 1908, the first hospital in 1909, the library in 1917 (Trethewey 37) were some of the infrastructure that were established. In 1942 the Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport was built. This base provided training for basic engineering, diesel, radioman, quartermaster and electricians ratings for enlisted members of the military or civilian construction workers. With each year they added different areas to the base and it was one of the first homes of the Seabees3. The locals wanted to add more attractions to the area, and so the longest man-made beach in the world was completed in 1955 (Trethewey 41). Gulfport has 6.7 miles out of the 26 miles of the famous manmade beach that stretches along the Gulf of Mexico. It is 1992, the year the first casino arrived on the Mississippi Gulf CoastThe first legalized offshore casino and resort hotel, the Isle of Caprice, opened in 1926 (Congregation 141), and while the casino opened in Biloxi it impacted Gulfport as well, because Biloxi is very close neighbors with Gulfport. The riches of Gulfport grew with the industry of the casinos, and it attracted a tremendous amount of tourism because of its beaches and the activities they held each year. The Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport was built in 1942; it was built at first to train military flight members for World War Two. The revenue that Gulfport was receiving because of all the casinos and attractions helped improve the economy. Schools were being built, police forces were more secure, and the city grew rich. Gulfport has 55.59 square miles of land area and is located on the vast beach line that runs across the Gulf of Mexico. With the coordinates of: 302202 North and 890534 West, and part of the longest man-made beach have contributed to an active area for the tourists that want to visit its white sandy beaches. It is located in the southern part of Mississippi and it

Guzman-Gomez 3 belongs to Harrison County Biloxi is neighbors to the east of Gulfport. These two cities have been hand in hand together through everything; from their first foundation to the devastation of Katrina. The city on the west side of Gulfport is Long Beach. These three cities, Long Beach, Gulfport, and Biloxi, comprise the longest manmade beach along the Gulf Coast. Because there were people of different races in the south, the people still had trouble dealing with the decision made in 1954 with the case of Brown vs. Board of Education. When Natasha Tretheweys grandmother was growing up in Gulfport there still was segregation; the attractions that were built along the coast had signs that said white or colored only. The segregated beaches of Gulfport only permitted blacks for the purpose of crossing over to the water to set up crab traps and to carry their harvest to the back stoops of those big houses (Trethewey 37). Although the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964 it [would not] be until 1968that the beaches are finally fully integrated (Trethewey 42). The public services also limited the sources for education, limiting uses for public libraries, offering the services only to whites. The Civil Rights Act strongly impacted the area of southern Mississippi. In June 1959 the Biloxi Civic League and Harrison County Civic Action Committee were organized. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) also took part in the movement by establishing an organization on the Gulf Coast. Many petitions were signed to integrate the schools and public attractions in the area. A lot of riots broke out because of the activists that were fighting for their rights. My grandmother remembers going to the lunch counter at the Woolworths in downtown Gulfport, just a few blocks from the beach, and encountering and elderly white woman and her daughter. When the woman saw me sit down at the counter, my grandmother tells me, she asked her daughter to take her

Guzman-Gomez 4 somewhere else. It used to be color, my grandmother muses. Then the only thing that could keep us out of those restaurants on the beach was money. (Trethewey 42) There are parts of Gulfport that, for the majority, are inhabited by one race; the area, now known as North Gulfport, has beenfor as long as my grandmother can remembera black section of town (Trethewey 35). While the Civil Rights influenced a lot of integration, and there is not a lot of tension between the races, the feeling has not totally disappeared from the south. Since Gulfport is located along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico it is always exposed to tropical storms and to hurricanes. The two most recognized devastating storms that hit the area are Hurricane Camille, on August 17, 1969, and Hurricane Katrina, on August 29, 2005. Both hurricanes were Category 54 hurricanes. In between these two major hurricanes there were also other hurricanes that took place: Hurricane Frederic in September 31, 1979, Hurricane Elena in September 2, 1985, Hurricane Georges in September 28, 1998, and Hurricane Ivan in September 16, 2004. These storms were not as brutal as Katrina or Camille, but they still did some damage that weakened the shore. When Camille5 struck the Gulf Coast most people wanted to ride out the hurricane. In 2005 when everyone heard that Katrina was advancing towards the Gulf Coast they wanted to ride her out, because before Katrina so many older people told stories of having ridden out Camillethe fact that her home had withstood Camille thirty-six years before, my grandmother was one of the people who wanted to ride out the storm from home (Trethewey 9). The devastation of Katrina6 was so harsh that she dethroned the former Queen of the Gulf Coast, 1969's Hurricane Camille (Bass 1). Havoc arose when Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, touched the shore of Gulfport and the neighboring cities. Nobody had expected for Katrina to be more dangerous than Camille. The locals that wanted to stay in their house, to ride out the storm,

Guzman-Gomez 5 had to be evacuated immediately. The waters rose higher and higher until all Gulfport was deep within its grasp. Not only did Katrina devastate Gulfport, but it also was the most devastating hurricane that the USA had ever witnessed. Despite the hurricanes that hit Gulfport the city still managed to get back up on its feet. Organizations like the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) helped the locals and rescued a lot of people by giving them shelter and food. Volunteer groups made their way to the shore of the Gulf of Mexico to help the victims of Katrina. When I went to volunteer to help clean up the mess that Katrina had caused in 2008 there still was a lot of things to be taken care of. The streets were cracked and the foundations of houses where uprooted. But when you walked into the heart of the city its people were very nice. Even though they were affected by Katrina they still had a smile on their face. Gulfport has witnessed many storms that devastated its coast but it is still up and running no matter the damages. Gulfport has been affected by different situations but the history is rich with successes that were accomplished from when it was founded to this day.

Notes

Guzman-Gomez 6 1. He was a lawyer, businessperson, and an entrepreneur 2. Jones was an oil producer before becoming involved with the railroad systems 3. They are members of one of the construction battalions, of the Civil Engineer Corps, of the US Navy. 4. With winds 155 mph+, surges of 18 ft. +, and damages of complete roof failure on many

residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. Flooding causes major damage to lower floors of all structures near the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas may be required. 5. Katrina is responsible for approximately 1200 reported deaths, including about 1000 in Louisiana and 200 in Mississippi.

Works Cited

Guzman-Gomez 7 "A Brief History of the Civil Rights Movement on the Mississippi Gulf Coast." Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive. The University of Southern Mississippi, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://digilib.usm.edu/crmda_coast.ph Bass, Joby. "Photographic Journal Culture In Nature: Reclaiming Place After Katrina." American Geographical Society's Focus On Geography 48.4 (2006): 1-8. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. Cook, Karen. "Struggles Within: Lura G. Currier, The Mississippi Library Commission, And Library Services To African Americans." Information & Culture 48.1 (2013): 135 America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. CNIC. "History." Naval Construction Battalion Center Gulfport. Official US Navy Website, n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrse/installations/ncbc_gulfport/about/history.html "Gaming 20/20." A CITY OF BILOXI SPECIAL REPORT May 2012: 1-7. City of Biloxi. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://biloxi.ms.us/pdf/Gaming2020.pdf "Geographic Coordinates of Gulfport, Mississippi, USA." Latitude, Longitude, and Elevation above Sea Level of Gulfport. Dateandtime.info, 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://dateandtime.info/citycoordinates.php?id=4428667 "Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport." Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, 2009. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://www.flygpt.com/aboutgbia/history.htm "Gulfport, Mississippi." Gulfport, Mississippi. QuinStreet, Inc., 2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/mississippi/gulfport "Gulfport, MS." Gulfport, MS. World Media Group, LLC, 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.

Guzman-Gomez 8 http://www.usa.com/gulfport-ms.htm Heller, Laura. "Hardy (William H. and Sallie J.) Papers." The University of Southern Mississippi -- McCain Library and Archives. The University of Southern Mississippi Libraries Special Collections, 13 Oct. 2004. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.(1) http://www.lib.usm.edu/legacy/archives/m380.htm "Hurricanes in History." Hurricanes in History. National Weather Service, 30 May 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history Jones, Bruce. "Joseph T Jones." 91st PA--Joseph T. Jones. Rootsweb, 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pa91/pjonej1.html June-Friesen, Katy. "Massive Resistance in A Small Town." Humanities 34.5 (2013): 10-53. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. Newcomers & Visitors Guide South Mississippi. "Entertainment, Dining & Casinos." The Official South Mississippi Visitors Guide. FOCUS Publishing, LLC, 2005. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. http://seesouthms.com/SouthMSProfile/CoastProfile.aspx "The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission." National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/civil-rights-act/ Trethewey, Natasha. "Congregation." Virginia Quarterly Review 85.4 (2009): 141. Literary Reference Center. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. Trethewey, Natasha D. Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Athens: University of Georgia, 2010. Print.

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