[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E24]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      HONORING MRS. OCEY RICHMOND

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 8, 2014

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
woman who made her life's wages from cultivating and harvesting the 
land on which her family lived, Mrs. Ocey Richmond.
  Mrs. Ocey Richmond was a sharecropper in Bolton, Mississippi. Dating 
back to as early as the 1950s, Mrs. Richmond farmed an area of about 
15-20 acres of land, which was located not far from Bolton-Brownsville 
Road. Mrs. Richmond cultivated a number of crops, such as sweet 
potatoes, corn, peanuts, numerous other vegetables, and cotton.
  As a sharecropper, a portion of her harvest was payment for her land 
and home, which was leased to her through the white-owned Gaddis & 
McLauren Seed and Feed Store. Not only were they able to sell their 
harvested crops, but they were also able to feed their families, making 
great use of their land.
  Mrs. Richmond enlisted the help of other family members in assisting 
with the daily demands of cultivating and harvesting acres of land. 
Other members of her family, such as Deanna Hill and Clarence Richmond 
assisted her, helping to meet the demands and expectations of her 
sharecropping responsibilities.
  By 1973, Mrs. Richmond ceased cultivating the land and moved from her 
leased property to another area within the Bolton community.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. Ocey 
Richmond for her impeccable cultivator talent.

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