Mound Bayou was founded in 1887 in Bolivar County Mississippi, one of the poorest counties in the United States, as the first incorporated African American community in the USA. It was founded on a belief that true freedom for African Americans at that time Could only be realized in a segregated environment. The original inhabitants of Mound Bayou were generally freed slaves who were looking for social, economic, and political freedom.

The early years of the community were sucessful. By 1911, the population had reached 8,000. There was a sawmill and several cotton mills, and a town newspaper. The Mound Bayou Loan and Investment Company was begun in order to ensure black ownership of all land in the community. But the drop in the price of cotton, as well as the migration northward of thousands of black families slowly led to the decline of the community. During the Sixties, anti-poverty programs targeted the community, most notably a Tufts University Program for Preventative Medicine. But for some 25 years after its founding, Mound Bayou flourished as a symbol of black success in the South.

When these photographs were taken, 1976-1977, the population had declined to about 2,000. Many of the old stores were closed. It was a quiet rural black community in the Mississippi Delta, but one infused with a rich and unusual history.