Homer Vernon Cooper (May 12, 1890June 22, 1968) was an American politician who served as a State Senator from the 12th District which had represented the area of Warren and Hinds Counties in Mississippi. He was a Democrat who served from 1960 to 1964.State of Mississippi Government Documents. Handbook: biographical data of members of Senate and House, personnel of standing committees, 1960 By profession, Cooper was a longtime school administrator well known on the state and national levels.
Cooper opposed integration of the Vicksburg school system and desegregation of the educational structure across Mississippi; this was in defiance to the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. He served on the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and voted for supporting the commission during his term as a State Senator.
Early life and education
Homer Vernon Cooper was born into a farming family in Elmore County, Alabama, on May 12, 1890. He was the fifth of eight children born to John Thomas Cooper and Dorothy Arizona Hornsby (5 boys and 3 girls).Mississippi State Senate archives. Letter written by H.V. Cooper to John Thomas Cooper IV, Details given on ancestry. December 17, 1963. Cooper attended elementary school in Eclectic, Alabama, before the family moved northwest to near Oxford, Mississippi; by 1908 Cooper would complete his high school education at an institution known as Toccopola College School, (Toccopola, Mississippi).Downs, Winfield Scott. Encyclopedia of American biography: New series, Volume 40. American Historical Society, 1970. pp.117-119
Career in Education and Public life
Starting when he was 22 years old, H.V. Cooper eventually became a prominent leader in Mississippi education. From 1912 to 1915, Cooper first served as a teacher and principal of Cedar Bluff Elementary School (Cedarbluff, Mississippi). During the same time he continued his higher education at Southern Christian College in West Point, Mississippi, completing his Associate of Arts in Education degree in 1915. 1917-18 he served as a social science teacher at Kilmichael (Mississippi) High School; in 1920 he completed his Bachelor of Science in Education degree at Mississippi State University in Starkville having also served there in 1919 as an instructor in Education and Sociology.Reveille, "HOMER V. COOPER, Instructor in Education and Sociology". Mississippi State University Yearbook, pp. 14 - found and supplied by Nekita Gandy, Library Associate, Special Collections/University Archives, Mitchell Memorial Library, Mississippi State University Cooper then served as Superintendent of Schools in Ackerman from 1920 to 1922. He moved his family south to Magnolia serving as Superintendent of Schools until 1924, and moved back north working in Kosciusko thereafter until 1931. During this time, Cooper served in the Mississippi National Guard from 1926 thru 1929 as Captain for the 155th Infantry Regiment in Kosciusko and also stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi.Official National Guard Register. United States. National Guard Bureau, 1927. pp. 508 Starting in Summer of 1927, he was enrolled in the graduate extension program at the University of Virginia.The University of Virginia Record, Volume 13. University of Virginia. 1927. pp. 34 He went onto to earn a Master of Science in Education degree in 1932 from the UVA.Publications and Research, University of Virginia. The University, 1932. pp. 29345 Get Degrees at Virginia. The Evening Leader. Staunton, VA. September 3, 1932. pp. 2 His thesis on public education administration is cited in numerous publications during the 1930s and 1940s.3398 - Cooper, Homer Vernon. "A Program Of Guidance for the High Schools of Vicksburg" Statistics of Land-grant Colleges and Universities, Issues 1-8, United States Office of Education. U.S. Government Printing Office 1934. pp. 249Cooper, Homer Vernon. A program of guidance for the high schools of Vicksburg, Miss. Thesis/Dissertation. University of Virginia. 1932
After completion of his graduate work, Cooper was named Superintendent of Schools in Vicksburg, Mississippi, a post he held for 29 years until reaching compulsory retirement later in 1960 (age of 70). He would then go onto working for All Saints' College as guidance counselor and also director of extension work in summers at Mississippi State University.The Clarion Register/Jackson Daily News, 'H.V. Cooper Dies At Home', Sunday, June 23, 1968, pp. 1Supt. Will Retire In Vicksburg. Clarion-Ledger. May 16, 1960. pp. 10 He was a Life Member and Past President of Mississippi Education Association; Life Member and Member of Board of Directors of the NEA; member of the American Association of School Administrators, Mississippi Association of School Administrators and served as Chairman of Education Policies Commission of the M.E.A.
While remaining in Vicksburg for the rest of his life, Cooper became a well known civic leader. He served as a President and District Governor of Rotary International; a member of the Delta Council, Mississippi Economic Council and Vicksburg Chamber of Commerce.The Rotarian, Rotary International, New Rotarians, H.V. Cooper District 17 A. 1937. pp. 44 He was a member of the Masons and Shriners.
1960 - 1964, Mississippi State Senator At the age of 70 in 1960, H.V. Cooper become a Senator representing the 12th District of the State if Mississippi.TEACHER IN SENATE. Clarion Ledger, Jackson Mississippi. January 17, 1960, pp. 58 The 12th Mississippi Senate district covered both Warren and Hinds counties; both the Vicksburg and Jackson metro areas. The district was represented and shared by three senate seats; Cooper would replace Hayden Campbell who was running against long-time Jackson lawyer, Senator T. Mitchell Robinson for the Hinds County seat. Campbell had occupied what was the 'floater' seat of the three.'Henderson, Luckett Are In Runoff For Warren Sheriff'. Clarion-Ledger. August 6, 1959. pp. 7 Robinson lost the Hinds seat to Campbell after finalizing legislation and funding for the complicated Pearl River Valley Reservoir Project.Sorrels, James. Pearl River Valley Reservoir Project. BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCHThe University of Mississippi. University of Mississippi. 1962 Cooper was long time superintendent of Vicksburg Public Schools and with close ties to business, municipal and church leaders in Warren County, Mississippi, he was a well known commodity by the citizens of the 12th district and throughout the state. Cooper worked on numerous committees to include being Chairman of Municipalities; Vice-chairman of Child Welfare, Commerce and Manufacturing, Education and a member for committees on County Affairs, Penitentiaries, and Universities and Colleges.
Support and legislation for education As a longtime teaching and school administrator, Cooper was a tenacious fighter in his support for the education system throughout Mississippi. In March 1960, one of the first major pieces of legislation he was able to help push through was a substantial salary increase for K-12 teachers. Mississippi lagged far behind the rest of the country in this regard.Wirth, Gene. "House Votes For $600 Teacher Pay Hike". Clarion-Ledger. March 17, 1960. pp. 1 Another one of the most important initiatives Cooper was charged with was chairing and being main author of a major 1961 report on the education system in the state of Mississippi.Public Education in Mississippi: Reports of Advisory Study Groups to the Legislative Education Study Committee, Volume 2, Mississippi. Legislature. Education Study Committee, 1961. While serving as State senator he was very vocal about education in Mississippi and federal mandates handed down from the Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson administrations.Hills, Charles. "Affairs of State: Politics In School". Clarion-Ledger. February 10, 1963 Page 45
Redistricting legislative seats in Mississippi Cooper served one term and his seat was basically eliminated by the realignment of Senate districts starting in the 1964 legislative session.State of Mississippi Government Documents. Handbook: biographical data of members of Senate and House, personnel of standing committees, 1964 Cooper had originally proposed a redistricting plan in 1962 that would better represent the political layout of districts in Mississippi.A logical Plan For Redistricting. Greenwood Commonwealth, March 6, 1962. pp. 8ABOLISHED FLOATER. Clarion-Ledger. May 23, 1962. pp. 16 Due to the shifting populations of both Vicksburg and Jackson, each metro area required their own Senate representatives without having 'floaters.' Warren County would become its own district (13th), singularly represented by longtime Senator Ellis B. Bodron and Hinds County (1st) represented now by Senator Hayden Campbell. The 12th district would become Sunflower County located just to the north. This was the first reapportionment since the adoption the 1890 Mississippi state constitution.
In August 1966, Cooper was defeated in a runoff for the state House during a special election for Warren County to fill the seat vacated by Billy Joe Cross. His brother, Donald Cross, went onto be the victor in that race.Donald Cross Apparent Victor in House Race. Clarion-Ledger. Aug 17, 1966. pp. 14
Other work related to Mississippi His work and influence extended through his tenure as a state senator to help initiatives important to the Vicksburg community and state of Mississippi. In the late 1950s and into the 1960s, Cooper was able to facilitate funding and support for the raising and the restoration for the American ironclad warship, USS Cairo. This was done through the War Between the States Commission which Cooper was appointed to head kicking off the 100 anniversary of the war.Centennial: War Between The States Commission Planned. Clarion-Ledger. February 23, 1960. pp. 5 He also served as the chairman of the "Operation Cairo" committee, as it was an important historical project for Cooper as an educator and part time historian of the American South.Joyner, Elizabeth Hoxie. 'The USS Cairo: History and Artifacts of a Civil War Gunboat'. McFarland, 2006.Chambers, Elsie May. "A Slow Job: Cairo Will Surfacing Soon". Clarion Ledger, Jackson MS. September 28, 1964
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission 1959