WONA is an AM-FM radio station in Winona, Montgomery County, Mississippi. Beginning operation in October of 1958 as the town’s only radio station, WONA-AM broadcast daily news and features interspersed with music. One such feature was a program entitled the "Listen Ladies Show" that included interviews, book reviews, and household hints. Local gospel musicians were also featured. Like most other small AM radio stations of that time, WONA operated during daytime hours only. The radio station was part of the Mid-South Network that was based in Tupelo, Mississippi, and it included the Mississippi towns of Clarksdale, Columbus, Grenada, and Meridian. The licensee of the radio station was Southern Electronics, Inc.

Robert (Bob) A. Chisolm was an Alabama native who moved to Winona with his wife, Carol, and his daughter, Candy, in 1958. Chisolm was the first manager of the WONA-AM radio station. Prior to this time, he had several years of experience in broadcast news and had published a weekly newspaper. While living in Winona, Chisolm became an active member of the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Association, and he was involved in local civic and community affairs. Chisolm moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1970, and he started a political consulting firm. He died in the early 1990s.

The radio station’s editorial policy mandated complete, fair, and unbiased reporting of newsworthy events in the community. The reporting of two local law-enforcement cases that attracted national attention exemplified this policy. The first was the murder of deputy sheriff William Kelly by Alex Morris and Pink Earl Townsend on January 2, 1960. The killers were hired for one thousand dollars each by former sheriff Lawrence King, who was having an affair with Kelly’s wife. WONA first reported the story on its 7:00 a.m. news broadcast the morning after the murder, and the station followed the story throughout the year. The accused pled guilty to all charges, and they were sentenced to life imprisonment. King later appealed his life sentence, but the appeal was denied.

The second case involved seven black men and women, including civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville, Mississippi, who were returning on a Greyhound bus from a Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) conference in South Carolina. On June 9, 1963, they stopped at the Winona bus station, entered the "whites only" section of the café, and attempted to be served. They were arrested for disturbing the peace, and some members of the group were subsequently beaten by police officers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was soon involved in the case. Later that year, Hamer began organizing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. She spoke of Winona police beatings at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and frequently thereafter.

Besides reporting on community events, Chisolm believed in reporting what transpired during the public meetings of Winona and Montgomery County leaders. Hembree Brandon, editor of the Winona Times, held similar beliefs. Frequently, Chisolm would cover the regular board of aldermen meetings, while Brandon would cover the regular school board meetings, and they would then compare notes. The result was local reporting prepared by newsmen who were well known and respected throughout the community. WONA’s 7:00 a.m. news program entitled the "Morning Edition" was widely listened to, even by people outside of the county. In April of 1964, the radio station won an award for outstanding news coverage by the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Association for its reporting on meetings of the Winona Board of Aldermen.

Despite the acclaim from peers in the broadcasting industry, Chisolm and WONA drew criticism from some local citizens because of its coverage of such events as the Kelly murder and the Winona bus station incident. Reaction against Chisolm culminated in 1964 with a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) complaint by a group of current and former city and county officials, including the Winona police force. After an investigation by the FCC and strong support from the community at large, Chisolm and WONA were exonerated of all charges in February of 1965.

As local school-desegregation plans continued to develop, the Montgomery County Board of Education would occasionally hold unannounced meetings to discuss problems and shape policies. Since the expenditure of federal Title One and county funds were topics of discussion at some of these meetings, WONA and the Winona Times requested that they be notified of any special meetings. After other such closed-door meetings, Chisolm and Brandon would be given reports or Chisolm would offer broadcast time to an official spokesperson. In June of 1966, both media agreed to withhold certain information for later release to the public. However, Chisolm and Brandon repeatedly found themselves alerting the public to several closed-door meetings and requesting full disclosure of what had transpired.

This collection consists of photocopies of broadcast-news transcripts, correspondence, handwritten drafts and notes, and newsclippings. Some topics are duplicated among the files because copies were made of complete news transcripts. Topics include the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) complaint filed by some Winona citizens and officials against WONA and the radio station’s response; the antipoverty programs in Montgomery and surrounding counties; the reports of meetings of the boards of education of Montgomery and Carroll counties; the reports of meetings of the mayor and board of alderman of Winona; the resignation of Winona city clerk Clara Dotson; the William Kelly murder case and trials of Lawrence King, Alex Morris, and Pink Earl Townsend; the firing of Frank Surles, principal of Kilmichael High School (Big Black Attendance Center); and the arrest of Henretta Wright and her subsequent constitutional rights lawsuit in federal district court.

1. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Complaint and Response Files. 1963-1965. 3 folders.

   This series contains correspondence and radio transcripts regarding the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) complaint filed by some Winona officials and residents against WONA, the radio station’s response that includes eleven exhibits of evidence, and replies from the FCC. The evidence includes transcripts of news broadcasts and statements of support for WONA and Bob Chisolm. Notable in the evidence is Exhibit 8 that describes the arrest and beating of Fannie Lou Hamer of Ruleville, Mississippi, and other civil rights workers at the Winona bus station café. There is also a transcript of an exhibit prepared for the third annual radio and television awards competition of the Mississippi Broadcasters’ Association explaining the background of the FCC complaint that was intended to shut down WONA and force Chisolm to leave Winona.

   Box 1

2. Antipoverty Program Files. 1965-1967. 2 folders.

   This series contains transcripts of radio news and announcements for antipoverty programs that were part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. The Commodities Distribution (later Food Stamps), Head Start, Neighborhood Youth Corps, and Small Business Administration programs were administered by Central Mississippi, Inc., a private corporation established to manage federal grant money for the antipoverty programs. Central Mississippi, Inc., served Attala, Carroll, Choctaw, Holmes, Montgomery, and Webster counties. Included are a series of detailed reports on the implementation of food stamps by Central Mississippi, Inc. Notable is the coverage of an unannounced meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Education on August 18, 1966.

   Box 2

3. Boards of Education of Montgomery and Carroll Counties Files. 1966-1969; n.d. 6 folders.

   This series contains correspondence, newsclippings, notes, and transcripts related to meetings of the Montgomery County Board of Education from 1966 to 1969 and the Carroll County Board of Education in 1969. The notes (one folder) consist of a chronology of school desegregation in Montgomery County from 1966 to 1968.

   Box 2

4. Winona City Hall Files. 1965-1969. 6 folders.

   This series contains correspondence, notes, and transcripts related to meetings of the mayor and board of aldermen of Winona.

   Boxes 1-2

5. William Kelly Murder Case Files. 1960; 1964-1965; n.d. 3 folders.

   This series contains correspondence, newsclippings, notes, and transcripts related to the murder of deputy sheriff William Kelly, the court trials of the accused, and the 1965 appeal of former sheriff Lawrence King.

   Box 1

6. Clara Dotson Resignation File. 1966. 1 folder.

   This series contains correspondence and transcripts related to the resignation of Winona city clerk Clara Dotson over WONA’s broadcasting of the names of taxpayers whose real and personal property taxes were being changed after the annual reassessment of tax rolls by the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

   Box 1

7. Frank Surles Termination File. 1968. 1 folder.

   This series contains transcripts related to the firing without cause of Frank Surles, principal of Kilmichael High School (Big Black Attendance Center), by Clyde Gibson, superintendent of education of Montgomery County.

   Box 1

8. Henretta Wright File. 1969. 1 folder.

   This series contains correspondence and transcripts related to Henretta Wright’s 4.5 million-dollar constitutional rights case that was tried in federal district court in Oxford, Mississippi. Wright sued police officers and physicians involved in her August 1965 arrest for a traffic violation and subsequent commitment to the state mental hospital at Whitfield, Rankin County, Mississippi.

   Box 1