Senator George P. Ritchey (34th Senatorial District), Marks, conducted a contest in the schools of Mississippi in 1939 in which students wrote an essay of not less than 300 words on the subject "My Pledge to the Flag." The winners of the first three places, Ray Monteith, Courtland; J. Edgar Simmons, Jr., Natchez; and Kay Brash, Gulfport, received free trips to Washington, D.C., and the World's Fair in New York. The collection consists of the papers of the 41 school winners, Senator Ritchey's letter announcing the contest, and two letters from the judges of the contest.