For state Sen. David Jordan, the memory of his first meeting with former Mississippi Gov. William Winter stands out, although more than 45 years have passed since that time.
“We were having a flood in the Delta. It rained and rained. He came to make a speech at Greenwood High School,” Jordan remembered Monday.
Winter, who died Friday night at the age of 97 at his home in Jackson, was the state’s lieutenant governor then. He met after the speech with a group of local leaders at another school to talk about civil rights and education, among other topics, Jordan said. School integration was a hot topic. Students were being transferred by court order to different schools, and the community was upset.
Jordan said he asked Winter to speak to the Greenwood Voters League. Winter said he would, and later he returned to Greenwood to address the league. Doing so was an act of bravery, said Jordan, the league’s president. Other white political leaders likely would have dodged the invitation, he said.
“He had to have courage to even come to a Voters League meeting,” Jordan said. “I counted him as a friend.”
So did many other people, including those who never met Winter but saw what he accomplished through steady efforts to improve the lives of Mississippians.
As governor from 1980-1984, Winter led the successful campaign to pass the Education Reform Act of 1982, which included a mandate for providing public kindergartens. He was known for having said, “The only road out of poverty and economic dependency runs past the schoolhouse door.”
Jordan, a retired teacher who has served on the Greenwood City Council for 36 years and in the state Senate for 28 years, said Winter’s words mean as much now as they did in the past.
“I taught for 33 years and have been in politics for more than 50 years,” he said. “I have been out there a long time, and I have met a lot of great people,” Jordan said, explaining that Winter always was at the top.
He continued, “He took a position on education and integration of the school system, and people working together.”
Wyatt Emmerich of Jackson, president of Emmerich Newspapers, said his late father, Commonwealth Editor and Publisher John Emmerich, and Winter became friends as students at the University of Mississippi, and John Emmerich made the passage of the Education Reform Act a “personal editorial crusade.” When it appeared that the act might not pass, he and Winter sat in the governor’s office and spoke by telephone and in person with every lawmaker. “One by one, they called them all and got it passed,” Emmerich said.
In 1975, Walker Sturdivant of Greenwood worked in Jackson on Winter’s campaign for governor in a race that was won by Gov. Cliff Finch. Later, Sturdivant would serve as campaign manager for his father, Mike Sturdivant of Glendora, when he ran unsuccessfully for election as governor.
Walker Sturdivant, who farms in Glendora, said Winter and his father were close but never competed against each other. “Our family knew the William Winter family well,” Sturdivant explained, calling Winter “a great visionary leader for this state.”
“Dad and William were good friends. They thought alike on a number of issues. They saw eye to eye on educational reform and racial reconciliation.”
Sturdivant noted that Winter continued to pursue improvements to the quality of life in Mississippi long after he left the governor’s office. Winter sought a replacement for the longtime Mississippi flag for two decades, campaigned for racial reconciliation and served for 50 years on the board of the state Department of Archives and History.
“He was well respected for a reason, and that is because he was a man of integrity,” Sturdivant said.
“He was active during periods of time when most people are retired,” Sturdivant observed. “He was one of Mississippi’s great all-time leaders.”
Jordan characterized Winter as determined and brave. “He had courage at a time when it was difficult to do something. He did it anyway because he was a man of courage.”
Winter’s efforts have left Mississippi a better place, Jordan said. “Thank God he lived to see it change.”
•Contact Susan Montgomery at smontgomery@gwcommonwealth.com.
