Blake (Edward L.) Collection PI/2014.0007/Series I

This is a collection of photographs from the scrapbooks of Edward "Ed" Leonard Blake, Sr. (1925-2008), a journalist, public relations expert, and tree farmer, from Pocahontas, Mississippi. Mr. Blake served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, then worked as editor of several central Mississippi newspapers, beat reporter with the Jackson Daily News, and Information Director for the Mississippi Farm Bureau Federation. Upon retirement in 1988, he continued to travel the state, to write, and to host school groups and family gatherings at his Springdale Hills Tree Farm and Arboretum, where he grew Christmas trees and other flora. Ed Blake was married to Charlotte Eleanor Claypoole Blake, and they had five children: Edward Jr. (Ned), Judy, Wendy, Cary, and Andy. He was an active, lifelong member of Pocahontas Baptist Church and leader of the church's first Boy Scout troop, 328. The photographs on the pages of these scrapbooks were primarily taken by Ed Blake but also collected by him from friends and family members. The images feature Mr. Blake's family, school and church activities, interesting characters from the region's history, and Mississippi's agriculture and wildlife. They document the destruction wrought by tornadoes, hurricanes, and flooding, as well as the beauty of the rivers, forests, and beaches that can be found around the state, but mostly the communities of people of whom Ed Blake was a keen observer as well as an apparently enthusiastic participant.
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