Willis Elbert Mollison (18591924) was an American teacher, newspaper editor, politician, banker, businessman, lawyer, public official, and civil rights advocate in Mississippi. He was a Republican.

Early life and education

Willis Elbert Mollison was born on September 15, 1859 in

Mayersville, Mississippi Mayersville is a town on the east bank of the Mississippi River, and the county seat for Issaquena County, Mississippi, United States. It is located in the Mississippi Delta region, known for cotton cultivation in the antebellum era. Once the t ...

. Martha

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Gibson and Robert Mollison were his parents. He studied at

Fisk University Fisk University is a private historically black liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1930, Fisk was the first Africa ...

's college preparatory school, and

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio. It is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational liberal arts college in the United S ...

(class of 1883).

Career

He wrote a book ''The Leading Afro-Americans of Vicksburg, Miss., Their Enterprises, Churches, Schools, Lodges and Societies'' (1908), about prominent African Americans in Vicksburg, Mississippi. Mollison was the president of Lincoln Park Land Company, a stockholder in the Lincoln Savings Bank of Vicksburg. He was also the director of the Mound Bayou Oil Mill and Manufacturing Company in

Mound Bayou Mound Bayou is a city in Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,533 at the 2010 census, down from 2,102 in 2000. It was founded as an independent black community in 1887 by former slaves led by Isaiah Montgomery. Mound ...

. Mollison published '' The Golden Rule'' a four-page weekly newspaper in Vicksburg, Mississippi. He was also the owner of the '' National Star'' newspaper. He moved to Chicago in 1917. He died on May 11, 1924. His son, Irvin C. Mollison also was a lawyer and served as president of the Bar Association of Cook County, Illinois.

Early life and education

Career

References

Further reading