About the Researcher

Katy Osborne is a graduating senior at Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, Mississippi. This website serves as one part of her History Capstone project. This is the culmination of a fifteen week research project and internship at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library's Local History Department in Columbus, Mississippi. This represents an overview of the Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin Letters and related collections housed in the Billups-Garth Archives inside the Local History Department.

Katy processed the collection, created a finding aid, and digitized portions of the collection, including all pictures the collection contains. This compiled research tells the story of a complex woman and the displaced families she sponsored after World War II. Mary McClure Hutchinson Martin was an unusual woman in every sense of the word. Her life and work left its mark on the education community, her family, and all those she influenced.

The Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library

The Local History Department is charged with the mission of documenting the history and culture of Columbus and Lowndes County. The Local History Department consists of two main sections: The Billups-Garth Archives and the Margaret L. Buckley Reading Room.

All collection materials used and referenced in this exhibit, such as photographs, are housed in the Billups-Garth Archive and available for patron use. In addition, Katy Osborne has donated her original research essay about this collection and Mary Hutchinson to the Billups-Garth Archive. It is also available for patron use.

For more information and to visit the Local History Department's webpage click here.