Monday morning, I talked with the Secretary of State’s office about when the copies of the 2024-2028 Mississippi Statical Register known as the “Blue Book” that is available this year. I thought about how I look forward to adding this edition to my collection. This edition, which is published every four years by the Secretary of State’s office, is a volume that has an abundance of information on our state and is a direct source of information. This edition is the second one published by the current second term Secretary of State Michael Watson. I knew that it would be getting close to publication because the new four-year edition comes after the municipal elections to include those officials.
“This publication has been updated and produced every four years since 1904 to provide information specific to a four-year period regarding elected officials, state agencies, historical data, and other information about Mississippi,” Secretary of State Watson wrote at the beginning of the 2024-2028 edition
When I was in college, I would spend countless hours reading old volumes of these "Blue Books" in the library. They are a reference that includes sketches of elected officials in this state, lists of all institutions and their officials, state and county population and election statistics, along with a wealth of other related information for the four years they serve. They also can be used as a historical reference for years to come. It is so interesting to look back through the decades and study the biography of a governor, the cast of county and municipal officeholders, the population of counties and towns, and how they have all changed. I remember the old days when people here in Carroll County would gather for the county first primary where a host of local officials would be on the ballot from county supervisor to sheriff. On that first Tuesday in August people would gather to look at the board outside The Conservative office on Lexington Street in Carrollton to find out the election returns as the boxes came in from all over the county to the Carrollton courthouse. The crowds would form all the way around the courthouse. Looking back in those historical blue books from years ago brings back those memories of that hot August night when the leaders of county government were chosen. Those old statistical registers from years gone by would list the officials for that four-year term.
In the late 1990s, I began collecting these volumes. I would receive one every four years from the Secretary of State’s Office, but I began looking for the older volumes at used bookstores, estate sales or any place I could find one. Currently, I have all but three. The Secretary of State began publishing the "Blue Book" in the 1930's. Back in 1931, the Blue Book featured on its cover an airplane which was rarely seen by our citizens in those days and inside was a recommendation from then Secretary of State Walker Wood that the driveway to the capital should be paved.
Through changing times of our state, these volumes are a Mississippi institution that tells the story of who we are and where we are every four years through time. That goes all the way from the municipal, county, and state level. It's a reference for a particular four years, and a historical document of the past on how much our state has come.
Ken Strachan serves as the mayor of North Carrollton, is a member of the Mississippi Municipal League board of directors, and serves as North Central Mayor’s Association president.
