Editing Belzoni, Mississippi (section)

==History==
The area that eventually became Belzoni was originally known as "Greasy Row" because of saloons along the bank of the Yazoo River, which was the main transportation route until replaced by railroads.<ref name=boh>{{cite web|url=http://www.belzonims.com/belhistory.htm|title=History of Belzoni|publisher=Belzoni–Humphreys Development Foundation|access-date=January 17, 2010}}</ref> In 1895, a charter was granted for the village of Belzoni, although the area had been settled by European Americans and African Americans for several decades previously. It was developed for cotton plantations before the Civil War and relied on agriculture well into the 20th century. Steve Castleman, who secured the charter, was elected as the first mayor of Belzoni.<ref name=boh /> When Humphreys County was formed by the state legislature in 1918, Belzoni was selected as the county seat.<ref name=boh />

===Civil rights movement===
[[File:Segregated movie theater.jpg|thumb|Segregated movie theater in Belzoni, 1939]]
Belzoni was the site of the murder of an early civil rights pioneer. The Rev. [[George W. Lee]], an African American minister who was seeking voting rights for the [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchised blacks]] of the [[Mississippi Delta]] and registered to vote, was murdered in 1955 in "Bloody Belzoni" by white residents committed to upholding segregation.<ref>{{Cite web| last = Klopfer| first = Susan| title = Rev. George Lee 'Died to Vote' in 'Bloody' Belzoni| work = Buzzle.com| date = December 2, 2005| url = http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-2-2005-82898.asp| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060103193247/http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-2-2005-82898.asp| url-status = usurped| archive-date = January 3, 2006| access-date = November 13, 2009}}</ref> His killers were never found, as the governor of Mississippi, [[Hugh L. White]], refused to investigate the case.<ref name=GWL>{{cite web |url=http://www.themiddleoftheinternet.com/OnlineBooks/Rebels/14.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060605141300/http://themiddleoftheinternet.com/OnlineBooks/Rebels/14.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 5, 2006 |title=Rev. George W. Lee |work=The Middle of the Internet |access-date=January 17, 2010 }}</ref> Many consider Lee the first martyr of the modern civil rights movement.<ref name=GWL />

As an undergraduate at the [[University of California, Berkeley]], [[Margot Adler]], later a [[National Public Radio]] correspondent, was active in the voter registration drive in Humphreys County (Belzoni) in the summer of 1965, before the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act]] on August 6 of that year. In 2000, she recalled: 
<blockquote>"I remember how difficult it was to register people: the fear was palpable. I remember that after one month of daily work there were only seven people registered, and a bunch of us almost got ourselves killed after being chased onto private property by a group of men who belonged to the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Council]]".</blockquote> She said that the civil rights movement changed Humphreys County, and bettered the lot of African Americans. <blockquote>"There was real change in Belzoni. Streets were paved in hog town, sewers no longer overflowed into the dirt streets. Several black families I knew from then have held political office during the last decade".<ref>{{Cite web| last = Adler| first = Margot|work = Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement| title= Margot Adler|publisher = Westwind Writers Inc.| date =November 23, 2000| url = http://www.crmvet.org/vet/adler.htm| access-date = November 13, 2009| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091029090127/http://www.crmvet.org/vet/adler.htm| archive-date= October 29, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref></blockquote>

===Recent history===
In 2006, Belzoni elected Wardell Walton as mayor, the first African-American to hold the position. He was re-elected to a second term. He was succeeded in 2013 by Lenora Sutton, the first female mayor of Belzoni. In 2017 Carol M. Ivy was elected mayor.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

=== Historical markers and attractions ===
Belzoni's role in history has been recognized primarily through historical marker campaigns. The [[Mississippi Blues Trail]] has two markers located in city limits: one for [[Denise LaSalle]], who spent her childhood in Belzoni;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/locations/denise-lasalle-map|title=Denise LaSalle Map|website=Msbluestrail.org|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref> and another for Turner's Drug Store, an early sponsor for radio shows that broadcast Delta blues, and location of some performances by native artists [[Sonny Boy Williamson II]] and [[Elmore James]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.msbluestrail.org/locations/turners-drug-store-map|title=Turner's Drug Store Map|website=Msbluestrail.org|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref> There is a marker for Reverend George Lee as part of the [[Mississippi Freedom Trail]], detailing his contribution to the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi, located near his burial site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.visitmississippi.org/sitepages/history-and-heritage#civil-rights|title=History & Heritage {{!}} Visit Mississippi|website=Visitmississippi.org|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref> In 1990, the local African-American community placed concrete markers on each side of George Lee Avenue.<ref>{{Cite web|website=Google.com|title=English: Street View of marker placed at 100 George Lee Avenue, Belzoni, MS, USA (image taken in July 2013)|date=2017-02-09|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1836722,-90.4921222,3a,79.2y,102.13h,73.67t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sAJp2NfAY3ZKUijDVsnOxiQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|website=Google.com|title=English: Street View of marker placed at 611 George Lee Avenue, Belzoni, MS, US (Image taken in July 2013)|date=2017-02-09|url=https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1730549,-90.4917797,3a,75y,281.81h,67.1t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stzTjn8xZN3gevfJ6meAWZQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref>

Other attractions located in Belzoni<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.belzonims.com/belattract.htm|title=BELZONI-HUMPHREYS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: Belzoni Area Attractions|website=Belzonims.com|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref> include the Catfish Museum; Jaketown Museum, which contains artifacts of a nearby Native American mound; Mama's Dream World, a museum commemorating [[Ethel Wright Mohamed]]; and Wister Gardens, a local garden highlighting local flowers and plant life, often used for events in the area.

In the early-2000s, the city, in conjunction with the Humphreys County Art Council and Belzoni-Humphreys Development Foundation, sponsored the art project ''Catfish on Parade'', a collection of fiberglass catfish decorated by local artists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.belzonims.com/catfishonparade.htm|title=BELZONI-HUMPHREYS DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: Catfish on Parade Art Project|website=Belzonims.com|access-date=2017-02-09}}</ref> Each catfish's design is based on a reference to its specific commercial sponsor ("D. Fin-Der, Esquire" sponsored by a local law firm) or on a theme chosen by that sponsor ("Fishin' for Words", detailing works and images of famous Mississippi writers).