In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mississippi had a serious case of “Archie Fever.” University of Mississippi quarterback and Drew native Archie Manning took the state and much of the country by storm with his legendary exploits on the gridiron and his “all-American” persona off the field. At the Archie Manning Day celebration on February 27, 1971, Gov. John Bell Williams congratulated Manning for all of his success and thanked him for bringing the “hero-age” back, stating, “I thank him for giving this generation of America back to the young and old.” Lamont Wilson, the Mississippi postal worker who wrote the lyrics to “The Ballad of Archie Who,” called the redheaded signal caller “the best thing to happen to our great state of Mississippi in my life.” This talk explores the Archie Manning phenomenon by telling the story of one of Mississippi’s greatest sports legends and by placing his life within the context of 1960s and 1970s Mississippi. To understand why “Archie Fever” gripped the state when it did, we must understand who Archie Manning was and how his story fit into the broader political, social and cultural context of his times.
Dr. Charles Westmoreland Jr. teaches history at Delta State University. His expertise is in modern Southern history with an emphasis on the role of religion in public life and politics.
