Native Mississippian Dr. Elizabeth Lee Hazen, a graduate of II&C (Class of 1910) earned a PhD in Microbiology and Dr. Rachel Fuller Brown (Mount Holyoke) discovered Nystatin and two antibiotics. The women were inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame posthumously in 1994. The royalties from their patent were used to fund a foundation to support women in research in life sciences. 

Pete Warden was a quiet farmer on the Black Belt Prairie in his twilight years, but what most locals did not know was that he was a distinguished WWII fighter pilot and aircraft designer for the US Air Force, designing the first long-range intercontinental bombers. 

Columbus native George Barrow was not quite 18 years old, a seaman 2nd class, and off on his first South Atlantic cruise during World War I on the USS Cyclops. He and 308 of his fellow crewmen were lost at sea. The mysterious disappearance of the Cyclops has never been solved. 

Dr. Rosa Peebles and her life partner Dr. Edith Fahnestock taught at the Columbus, MS Industrial Institute and College before spending the rest of their career at Vassar as the respective heads of their departments. 

Robert Webb Banks, Sr. was born in Columbus, MS to Dunstan and Lucretia Banks, early settlers in Lowndes County. Robert attended the University of Alabama before joining the Confederate Army after the Battle of Shiloh. Robert authored the most significant first-hand book on the Battle of Franklin (1864) published in 1908. 

Hunt High School graduate Jim "Long Gone" Thomas played for the NFL and CFL for 9 years before becoming Tight End Coach at Ole Miss for fellow Columbus, Mississippian Coach Billy Brewer. 

Elbert Drungo Jr. born in Columbus, MS (1943) attended R. E. Hunt High School and Tennessee State University then played eight years in the NFL. 

Frances Gaither graduated from II&C (now MUW) in 1909. She is a forgotten Mississippi novelist whose work parallels Eudora Welty. 

Blanche Colton Williams would graduate II&C in Columbus, MS and teach in Natchez and Grenada for about 10 years before being granted a scholarship for graduate studies from her Alma Mater. She would leave for New York City to attend Columbia University and earn first an MA and then a PhD. She taught at Hunter College for 30 years, chaired the O'Henry and Opportunity Awards, authored multiple books, and hosted salons with fellow II&C alumni and faculty in New York City. 

Thanks to the research of two fellow "W" researchers whom I greatly respect: