190 JULY | AUGUST 2019
In 1925, our state leaders, Governor Henry Whitfield and
Lieutenant Governor Dennis Murphree, recognized that
our statehood was on the threshold of her golden era. They
could see that America had its eyes on Mississippi. Others
were becoming interested in what Mississippi had to offer,
not only to this nation but the world. They perceived that
industrialists and investors—for the first time since the
end of the Southern War for Independence—were looking
favorably at our state’s opportunities: our soil, our climate,
our natural resources, our people, and our strategic loca-
tion.
Following sweeping changes urged by these two men,
our state legislature improved business laws to encourage
capital ventures and restrain industry in the state. Seiz-
ing the moment, Governor Whitfield called a meeting of
Mississippi citizens to convene in Jackson to adopt a plan
whereby the opportunities, possibilities, and resources of
our great state might be effectively presented to the out-
side world. Twenty-six counties sent representatives to this
meeting. Lieutenant Governor Murphree, perhaps drawing
inspiration from Governor Whitfield’s popular book Know
Mississippi, presented a plan called “The Know Mississippi
Better Train,” that would involve a special train carrying
representative citizens, exhibits of the state’s resources, lit-
erature, and speakers to visit other areas of the country pro-
moting Mississippi. The idea instantly caught the imagina-
tion of everyone present and was enthusiastically adopted.
Murphree was named general chairman and given the au-
thority to assemble an executive committee.
In May, the Board of Supervisors of each of the state’s
82 counties chose two citizens to make the trip. Altogether
the train transported around 200 prominent Mississippi-
ans who were ready, willing, and able to speak well of our
resources and the available opportunities offered by Amer-
ica’s Hospitality State. That summer, the first “Know Mis-
sissippi Better Train” departed Jackson touring the great
farming country of the middle-western part of the U.S.
So successful was the venture that another was planned
while the first trip was still in route. The second trip, which
left Jackson on August 17, 1926, was exclaimed by Lieuten-
ant Governor Murphree in Jackson’s Daily Clarion-Ledger
newspaper as “The greatest Mississippi exhibit ever collect-
ed in one place at a given time.” His last comment was, “We
have the stuff to show the world!” The big train hailed as the
“longest Pullman Special Train in the world” was also cited
as being the “last word in travel luxury.” All of the cars, ex-
cept for the exhibit cars, were drawing room and compart-
ment cars. Each car was air-conditioned, including the two
dining cars, where the finest Mississippi meals were avail-
able. Affixed to both sides of the lead car were huge banners
with the words “Know Mississippi Better Train” in extra-
large lettering to be easily read from long distances. OtherHERITAGE & CULTURE
Looking Back
writer FORREST LAMAR COOPER“the know mississippi better train”
For more than two decades, Mississippi’s rolling ambassador
hailed the state’s bounty of opportunity and hospitality.