Marks Mule Train & Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Poor People’s Campaign (Marking the Mule Train Cultural Trail)

Marks Mule Train Cultural Trail Marker at Eudora AME Church, Marks, Mississippi. Photo courtesy of Quitman County Economic and Tourism Development.

“On May 13, 2021, history was made once again in Marks, Mississippi. After three years of planning and hard work by the Quitman County Board of Supervisors, the City of Marks Board of Aldermen, the Mule Train Historical Society and others, the Civil Rights Marks Mule Train Interpretive Trail was unveiled to commemorate the 53rd Anniversary of the 1968 Mule Train & Martin Luther King, Jr’s Poor People’s Campaign. This historic trail showcased eleven markers, displaying the history and activities, which took place fifty-three years ago of Dr. King’s visit to Marks/Quitman County, and earned Marks the duly distinction of being known as the ‘Home of the Mule Train.’ ” Text by Velma Benson-Wilson and Cynthia Goodloe Palmer

Why the Wagon Wheel Design?

By Velma Benson-Wilson and Cynthia Goodloe Palmer.

This article was originally featured in Tri-Lakes Delta Journal, 2021. Mrs. Velma Benson-Wilson also wrote The Dream Intensifies, an autobiographical essay in response to a 2013 visit back to her hometown of Marks, Mississippi. Author of What’s in the Water: Fannie, a Legacy of Love, Mrs. Benson-Wilson is currently the Director of Quitman County Tourism and Economic Development and was instrumental in the 50th Anniversary of Marks’ Mule Train and Poor People’s Campaign in 2018.

“Without the foundation of the wheel, it would be difficult to produce movement. It was the wheels of those wagons that propelled the Poor People’s Campaign forward, and those wagon wheels will now be parted permanently along the Mule Train Interpretative Trail”, Katrina Rankin, Emmy Nominee, “The Mule Train: Poor People’s Campaign Continued” Documentary.”

Marks Mule Train Cultural Trail Marker at the SCLC Office (802 3rd Street), Marks, Mississippi. Photo courtesy of Quitman County Economic and Tourism Development.

“This project was made possible through the funding of a 2018 National Park Service African American Preservation Grant (NPS) and the collaborative partnership with Mississippi State University’s Carl Small Town Center (CSTC). These markers signify the locations and places where Dr. King, members of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) including noted celebrities, Freedom Riders, and hundreds of civil rights community organizers, as well as scores of local leaders and residents emerged: creating this civil rights history, which is now documented and artistically displayed on the eleven interpretive markers.” Text by Velma Benson-Wilson and Cynthia Goodloe Palmer.

It was important to those working on this historic 1968 Civil Rights Mule Train Interpretive Trail project to ensure the intent of Dr. King’s goal of selecting Marks/Quitman County as the starting point for the Poor People’s Campaign was a portrayal of the actual history. This cultural trail is a tribute honoring his heroic efforts, the members of the SCLC (Student Christian Leadership Conference) and all those who participated in launching and the implementation in the Campaign. Thus, the 13 wagons, each pulled by two mules, kicked-off the Poor People’s Campaign. The wheel is a symbol of continuous motion that revolves on an axle, which is used to thrust a wagon, locomotive, vehicles, and other modes of transportation forward. Without the wheel, it’s difficult to produce movement. It is an essential object to the elevation which lifts modes of transportation to the desired surface allowance which enables ease of travel. It was the wheels that propelled the caravan of wagons movement; thus, the committee was fixated and agreed to make the wheel the symbolic image for the Mule Train Markers to mark the Interpretive Trail.

This picture is in Roland L. Freeman’s book, The Mule Train: A Journey of Hope Remembered. The caption reads “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visiting a church during the planning of the Poor People's Campaign...Marks, Mississippi, March 19, 1968.”

In 1968, little did Dr. King know that this would be his last campaign to bring attention to the War on Poverty. Little did historians and locals community realize that Dr. King’s visits would evolve over fifty years later with the potential to help shape this impoverished rural Delta county. Quitman County is now becoming a nascent civil rights destination, with the potential to bring economic stimulus in tourism growth and the capacity to attract private investors and businesses for downtown and regional development. This potential has blossomed with the addition of the 2018 opening of the Northwest Mississippi Regional Amtrak station in downtown Marks, Mississippi. The station within itself took a lot of wheels, which were put into motion to secure the necessary state and federal funds for its construction. As with the unveiling of the Quitman County rich civil rights history, stakeholders and grassroots efforts continue to seek state, federal and regional funding; as well as collaborative partnerships. Over the past five years, these efforts have produced sparks, which are now flickering signs of hope and opportunity. Maybe in retrospect, Dr. King was keenly aware that his presence in Marks and Quitman County would one day open a door to help not only this community, but other small rural towns in the Mississippi Delta see a pathway forward to greater economic prosperity.”

Watch The Mule Train: Poor People’s Campaign Continued, the Emmy-nominated documentary by Katrina Rankin, News Anchor, WATN-TV Local 24 ABC, Memphis.

Since this documentary was released, Quitman County has a new grocery store, Jeffcoat’s Family Market, and a newly re-opened Quitman County hospital.

Learn more about Marks and Quitman County, and the Mississippi Delta here.

Want to visit Marks, Mississippi? Find a weekend itinerary here.