The Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced that the Anne Moody Memorial Highway dedication ceremony has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 20th at 10:00 a.m. in Centerville. The ceremony will take place at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church at 8755 Highway 24 East in Centerville.
Anne Moody, born in Centerville in 1940, was a civil rights activist and the respected author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Coming of Age in Mississippi. She participated in many historic nonviolent campaigns, including the Woolworth’s sit-in protest in 1963, the March on Washington in 1963 and the Voter Registration Project in 1964. She went on to become one of the most celebrated authors of the Civil Rights Movement. Moody died on February 5th, 2015, at the age of 74.
In attendance for the dedication ceremony will be Transportation Commissioner Tom King, Representative Angela Cockerham and Moody’s brother, Reverend Fred Moody, Jr.
House Bill 1153, passed during the 2018 Regular Mississippi Legislative Session, designates and names the segment of Mississippi Highway 24 in Wilkinson County beginning at its intersection with U.S. Highway 61 in Woodville, Mississippi, and extending east to the Amite County line in Centreville is designated as the “Anne Moody Memorial Highway.”
“MDOT is honored to dedicate this section of highway as the Anne Moody Memorial Highway,” said King. “Her work as an activist helped ensure equal rights for all Mississippians and her work as an author made sure that struggle will not be forgotten.”
