Inaugural Hall of Fame class announced by Hattiesburg schools foundation

Fourteen alumni of Hattiesburg’s city schools will be inducted into the inaugural HPSD Foundation Hall of Fame during a two-day event October 4-5 at Eureka School Museum.

The Foundation’s Hall of Fame steering committee selected the alumni, including three posthumously, for the Hattiesburg Public School District Foundation Class of 2018:

• Former Professional Golfers Association president James Ray Carpenter;
• Ten-time Mississippi Sports Writer of the Year, Rick Cleveland;
• Public servant and the first African-American mayor of Hattiesburg, Dr. Johnny L. DuPree;
• Five-time National Football League Pro Bowl selection Harold Jackson;
• Former Morehouse College president and former Chair, Bank of America, Dr. Walter E. Massey;
• President and CEO of Camellia Healthcare Abb Payne;
• Orthopedic surgeon and a founder of Southern Bone and Joint Specialists, Dr. Doug Rouse:
• President of the University of West Florida, Dr. Martha Saunders;
• Former National Basketball Association star player Purvis Short;
• Hattiesburg developer and businessman Robert O. Tatum;
• Writer of 21 No. 1 country music songs, Craig Wiseman;
• The late Jesse L. Brown, the first African-American pilot in the United States Navy;
• The late Evelyn Gandy, the first female lieutenant governor of Mississippi;
• The late Bobby Myrick, a Major League Baseball pitcher who later became a businessman in Hattiesburg;