The First Black Mayor of Terry, MS

This is an account of Rod Nicholson, a naïve, young, African American professional man born, raised, and educated in the Midwest who came to Mississippi by way of Chicago to begin his married life and start a family. This is his perspective of Southern culture, politics, and race relations from an outsider’s viewpoint. Eventually, Rod Nicholson and his family moved to the quaint little town of Terry, MS. Less than two years after arriving in Terry, Rod was encouraged to run for and won a seat on the town’s Board of Aldermen. Four years later, Rod ran for Mayor becoming the town’s first African American Mayor. Mayor Rod Nicholson was re-elected to two additional four year terms in a town with roughly an even distribution of black and white residents.

For a number of years, things appeared to go smoothly for this part-time Mayor. Being a Civil Engineer by training, Mayor Rod had a skill set that enabled him to successfully secure funding for a number of much needed infrastructure improvements for this town that seemed to have a lot of potential but apparently had languished in neglect for decades. And his efforts did seem to be appreciated by the rank-and-file residents from all walks of life in this small town. However, not everyone was happy with this new Mayor and the bold changes that he championed. As time went by, it became apparent that beneath the gentile façade of the townsfolk, there lie a more sinister side where race permeated every facet of life in a closed society that apparently was either unable or unwilling to change. This is Mayor Roderick Nicholson’s real life account of these experiences. Positive and negative. And in his own words.

Roderick T. Nicholson is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and grew up across the Mississippi River in East St. Louis, Illinois. In addition to having served the Town of Terry, Mississippi as its first African American mayor, Rod Nicholson has worked more than 30 years as a Civil Engineer in state and federal government. Rod received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering with a dual concentration in environmental and transportation engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Rod and his wife JoAnn have been married 40 years and have 3 adult children and one grandchild. Since 2019, Rod has lived in the North Texas area where he has worked as a middle school math teacher and has his own consulting business.