Melonee Gaines

Editor’s note: Special thanks to Kaitlyn Molinere Seal and Victoria Kingrey of the Margaret Reed Crosby Memorial Library in Picayune, Miss. for research assistance.

Now Chef Kevin Sullivan pushes culinary boundaries Justin Hughes is the French pastry chef you never knew you needed With excerpts from Chef Erling Jensen and Chef Preeti Mistry Food vibes only. We create connections. Experience our stories, events and community by joining our mailing list today. We respect your privacy. Leave this field empty if you're human: This will close in 20 seconds Our site uses cookies. Learn more about our use of cookies: Cookie Policy ACCEPT

Picture it: It’s 1943 and Harlem is hopping up North, but down South, Orange Mound is in a groove. Noted as “the second-largest Negro community in the world” in 1947 by the Orange Mound Civic and Welfare Club, the neighborhood’s history exemplifies black self-determination. As America’s first community for African-Americans developed in 1890 on a former plantation, by the 1940s, Orange Mound had the highest rate of black homeownership in the nation.