Swap Shop

W hen Dr. William Lewis became the President at Pearl River Community College (PRCC), the many professional experiences he had encountered looked like a detailed training course on preparing him for his role in Poplarville. The journey to PRCC was one that took many turns, many stops, and most of all, provided him with many valuable experiences, coupled with great relationships, that positioned him to be successful as President of the college. His father was from Clarksdale and was a high school football teammate of Ole Miss legend Charlie Conerly. Mr. Lewis went to Sunflower Junior College (later became Mississippi Delta Community College) and would soon become a part of World War II in Europe for two to three years. When he returned from his military service, Mr. Lewis returned to the Delta area and soon after met Iva Smith and they later married. Iva was originally from Meadville, MS, but had moved to Greenwood to work for the federal government during the war. William was born in Jackson, but spent the first five years of his life in Rolling Fork, MS, before his parents relocated to Jackson. In 1953, he started school in the first grade at French Elementary in Jackson and moved around mid-year when his parents built a house in Clinton and they moved there permanently. In the mid-50’s, a lot of people that lived in Clinton worked in Jackson. At that time, Jackson was the hub of business and government activity in the state, and Capitol Street was the center of the activity. Many of the Clinton folks did not own cars and would walk to the old Gulf service station across from Mississippi College on the edge of the City. From there, they caught a Jackson City bus that ran twice daily from that Gulf station to the Old Capitol on the east end of Capitol Street in Jackson. That was their transportation to and from Jackson. William remembers around the time he was about 10 to 12 years old, he and some of his friends would pay a dime to ride the bus to downtown Jackson to the Paramount Theater to see a movie, and afterwards they would walk to the Walgreens Drug Store on a nearby corner for a cherry Coke or a chocolate milk shake. Capitol Street was alive with hustle and bustle for the wide-eyed young boys. “We’d go there, walk around and really enjoy ourselves. Nobody bothered us, we didn’t bother anyone, and our parents were not concerned about us because they knew where we were,” William stated. “It was a great time to be in Jackson.” In Clinton, Lewis played all sports as a youngster, but basketball was his “big love” and Clinton had a pretty good basketball program during that time. When he was in the 9th grade, William watched the varsity boys, led by future Mississippi State star Doug Hutton, win the state championship. Basketball would later become his means of getting his college education. However, his road with basketball didn’t get off to a promising start. “I was cut from the team when I was in the 8th grade. That experience only served to inspire and ferment my determination to become a good player. What is interesting is that when I was a senior, I was the only athlete in our school to receive a Division I offer,” he shared. During his junior year at Clinton, Lewis said they had a very good team, and defeated Jackson Central for the district championship which at the time earned the team a spot in the south Mississippi tournament. By Carey Meitzler General Manager of Pearl River Communications, Inc. William Lewis’ Journey to The River www.southernsenior.info 7 Photos courtesy of Pearl River Community College Communications and Clinton High School Alumni Association