Drew, Mississippi
| Drew, Mississippi | |
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| City | |
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 Location of Drew, Mississippi |
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 Drew, Mississippi
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| Coordinates: 33°48′36″N 90°31′50″W / 33.81000°N 90.53056°WCoordinates: 33°48′36″N 90°31′50″W / 33.81000°N 90.53056°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Mississippi |
| County | Sunflower |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Jeffrey Kilpatrick |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2) |
| • Land | 1.1 sq mi (2.9 km2) |
| • Water | 0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2) |
| Elevation | 135 ft (41 m) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 2,434 |
| • Density | 2,172.6/sq mi (838.8/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP codes | 38737-38738 |
| Area code(s) | 662 |
| FIPS code | 28-20020 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0669383 |
Drew is a city in Sunflower County, Mississippi. The population was 2,434 at the 2000 census. Drew is in the vicinity of several plantations and the Mississippi State Penitentiary, a Mississippi Department of Corrections prison for men.
"At the same time the Yellow Dog Railroad was extended through (what is now) Drew and due to some disagreement between the railroad and some McLemore interests, the post office was moved (from Promised Land Plantation) to here. Both the Post Office and the town were named for Miss Drew Daniel, daughter of Andrew Jackson Daniel
Todd J. Moye, author of Let the People Decide: Black Freedom and White Resistance Movements in Sunflower County, Mississippi, 1945-1986, said that the white residents of Drew "traditionally been regarded as the most recalcitrant in the county on racial matters." Moye explained that Whites in Drew were "considered the most recalcitrant of Sunflower County, and perhaps the state."
The Little Red Schoolhouse was built by matching funds from the Rosenwald Fund in 1928. In the 21st century it received a grant for renovation of the large school.
In the 1920s a man named Joe Pullen was lynched near Drew after killing 13 members of his lynch mob and injuring 26 of them.
Since Drew is in close proximity to the Mississippi State Penitentiary (also known as Parchman), Moye wrote that historically Drew was "a dangerous place to be black." In the 1930s and 1940s many police officers arbitrarily shot blacks, saying that they appeared to look like escaped prisoners from Parchman.
During the 20th Century African-American Civil Rights Movement, when attempts were made to move Fannie Lou Hamer's movement for poor people from Ruleville to Drew, the organizers, according to Moye, "faced stiff resistance."Mae Bertha Carter, a major figure in the area civil rights movement, was from Drew.
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