Ruby Elzy

My story is one of discovery and fame.

I am Ruby Elzy. I was born in Pontotoc, Mississippi, but my family moved to Corinth when I was young. A gentleman discovered me while I was singing in a kitchen at Rust College. He and his family helped me get an education and I was able to attend Julliard. My voice carried me far. Mr. Gershwin wrote the part of Serena in Porgy and Bess just for me and I starred in the movies, Birth of the Blues and Emporer Jones. I traveled all over the United States when it wasn’t so easy for African Americans to do so. I died suddenly in the 1930s. The world will never know what greatness might have followed.

Roscoe Turner

My story is

about speed.

I am Roscoe Turner – aviator, showman, movie star, barnstormer, and entrepreneur. In the ‘20s and ‘30s, I broke every speed record and won the Harmon, Thompson, and Bendix trophies. I was the Number One American Speed Pilot. I also had a pet lion, named Gilmore, who traveled with me until his weight in the plane slowed me down. “Stuffed”Gilmore, my trophies, and my planes are now at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., but my memory lives on in Corinth.