COLUMBUS, Miss.—Many longtime residents of Columbus, Mississippi, have memories of Dr. Emmett Stringer examining their teeth, or they recall encountering Stringer, a dentist and the founder of the Columbus, Miss., NAACP chapter, while visiting downtown.
As a boy, Mississippi House Rep. Kabir Karriem, D-Columbus, met Stringer at Jones Restaurant in downtown Columbus. Karriem said his grandmother and Stringer, whose dental practice was next-door to the restaurant, used to regularly share meals together. The representative said that Stringer moved to the north side of town and began eating with the Karriems at their family restaurant, Helen’s Kitchen and Catering, which is still open today.
“I used to wait for him to pull up, and I remember those great big, ol’ hands when he reached to pick up that food. But he had a warm smile,” Karriem said at the Dr. Emmett Stringer Freedom Trail Marker unveiling ceremony on May 8. “And I’d bring the food to the car for himself and his wife, but little did I realize then the profound impact that he had on this community (and) the nation.”
Stringer received recognition posthumously as Mississippi School for Math and Science students unveiled the trail marker in downtown Columbus’ Catfish Alley in May.
Stringer Faced Criticism But Continued Activism
Dr. Emmett Stringer grew up in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. At a young age, his mother registered him as an NAACP member. Pursuing higher education, he graduated from Alcorn University, then called Alcorn College, in 1941 before serving in the U.S. Army. The activist graduated from Meharry Medical College in Nashville after finishing his military service.
As a newly certified dentist, Emmett Stringer and his wife Flora Ghist Stringer, a teacher, moved to Columbus and became leaders in the city’s Black community. He helped start the Columbus NAACP chapter, which was the state’s largest chapter, and became the Mississippi state NAACP president in 1953.
That year, the civil-rights activist looked for prospective Black students who could apply to the University of Mississippi. The effort resulted in Medgar Evers applying to UM’s law school, but the university would not desegregate until James Meredith applied in 1962. He recommended civil-rights activist Medgar Evers to serve as the NAACP’s first state field secretary.
In 1954, the civil-rights activist organized responses to the U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. Along with other states’ NAACP leaders, Emmett Stringer disapproved of Mississippi Gov. Hugh White’s idea to give equal funding for Black schools and white schools. Instead, the NAACP leaders petitioned local school boards to demand desegregation.
“Dr. Stringer paid a heavy price for standing up for what was right,” Rep. Kabir Karriem said. “His journey was marked by ostracism, criticism, harassment, hardship, yet he endured.”
The Stringers faced threats, harassment and stalking for their civil-rights work. Emmett Stringer was one of eight African American leaders on the KKK’s kill list. The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission, a state organization dedicated to opposing civil rights, tracked the Stringers and reported their petition to integrate local schools in 1954.
Local banks canceled their loans with Emmett Stringer, his car insurance company stopped holding his policy, and patients would stop him on the street and say they would not be returning to his dental practice. Union Academy fired Flora Stringer. The couple received constant threats that their home would burn.
After stepping down as NAACP’s president, Emmett Stringer worked closely with the organization and also became involved with the board of the Child Development Group of Mississippi. He was one of the first African Americans to register to vote in Lowndes County and he helped Medgar Evers, Aaron Henry and Ruby Hurley run voting drives.
Stringer continued his work as a dentist at his downtown Columbus practice until 1992. He died on Sept. 6, 1995.
“Dr. Stringer made me proud to have known him but also proud to be a resident of Columbus, Mississippi. And one thing that was validated for me was that the movement did not pass over Columbus. Dr. Stringer made the movement happen here,” Daphne Chamberlain, the chief program officer of the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, said at the May 8, 2025, Freedom Trail Marker unveiling ceremony.
Columbus Honors Stringer With Freedom Trail Marker
In August 2021, Mississippi School for Math and Science African American Studies teacher Chuck Yarborough discovered that Lowndes County had only four markers that named women and six that named Black people. Determined to increase recognition for pioneering women and people of color in the community, he started a MoreStory Monuments program in his class to begin dedicating new historic land markers in Lowndes County.
“Our community’s most complete history consists of acts of consciousness and courage, performed in both ordinary and extraordinary times,” Yarborough said.
Daphne Chamberlain said she remembered visiting downtown Columbus with her parents when she was around 5 years old, frequently crossing paths with Stringer, who was so tall that she felt like she was looking “way up into the sky.”
A few years ago, Chamberlain was talking to John Spann, the program and outreach officer of the Mississippi Humanities Council, when she said, “Somebody ought to do a trail marker for Dr. Stringer.”
“Guess what?” Spann replied. “There’s already an application.”
Chamberlain was excited to be part of the committee to review those applications, she said, commending Yarborough’s and MSMS students’ efforts to honor the civil-rights activist.
During the ceremony, the Freedom Trail Marker was covered with a black cloth. MSMS students pulled the cloth off, unveiling the marker as the crowd clapped.
Lisa Bowen, though not a blood relative of Stringer, is part of his chosen family and grew up with Stringer serving as a neighbor, pastor and dentist and best friend to her grandfather. She gave her thanks on behalf of Stringer’s family for the people who created the Freedom Trail Marker.
“We are very proud for the Stringer family to realize that Dr. Stringer’s hard work and steadfast dedication to freedom and equality are being recognized by this prestigious Freedom Trail Marker,” she said.
Know a Mississippian you believe deserves public recognition? Nominate them for a potential Person of the Day article at mfp.ms/pod.
