MSMS students bring past Columbus residents “to life”
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The hard work is finally paying off for some students at Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science.
This week, eleven juniors will bring past Columbus residents to life in the school’s annual “Tales From the Crypt.”
The performances are the fruits of months of research.
“The project involves people selecting a research subject, which is a document and someone who lived in Columbus in the past. They conduct primary document research throughout the fall semester to write a research paper, but that’s all kind of standard school stuff, but college level,” said Chuck Yarborough, MSMS history teacher and director of “Tales from the Crypt.”
After writing the paper in the Fall, students use their research in the Spring semester to create a dramatic monologue.
The 46 students auditioned for “Tales from the Crypt,” and eleven were chosen by their peers and senior judges.
Makayla Wrenn is portraying Pauline Allen, an African-American woman and the first female principal for Union Academy.
“Being an African American myself, I feel like our history in Columbus is a bit told by a perspective that’s not fully whole. So, I was drawn to Pauline Allen, because I knew that if I could portray her correctly, I could tell a part of history that hasn’t always been shown to the Columbus community,” said Wrenn.
And some students, like Dietrich Hedgpeth, chose veterans.
“I chose Frank Edward Perkins. Jr. He was a waist gunner on a B-24 Liberator in World War II, and he died and got a Purple Heart,” said Hedgpeth.
Dietrich comes from a long line of veterans.
He said his great-grandfather flew the same type of aircraft Frank Perkins, Jr, served on.
they were in very dangerous, positions laying down, with barely any metal and it was horribly cold and windy and very difficult conditions”
Alexis Freeman chose to study a diary of a former Mississippi University for Women student from 1905, Abbie Bell Nicholson.
“It was an eye-opening experience for me because I was able to see how women had to like fight just for the privilege to be able to go to college when now, it’s just so like ‘Oh I get to apply here, here, and here.’ But MUW at the time was one of like only colleges women could go to,” said Freeman.
The students’ research took them to the archives of MUW’s library and the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
Columbus native, Maya Jacobsen, is one of the two lead narrators for “Tales from the Crypt.”
Each of the performers have a production team of three to four students.
“It’s really rewarding because you get to help critique that, and you see it start from the ground up that we’ve all had a part in,” said Jacobsen.
Students will present their biographies at Friendship Cemetery next to the resting places of some of their subjects.
“Tales from the Crypt” has been nationally recognized by national news outlets like the New York Times and NPR.
You can catch performances April 8, 10, 15, and 17 from 7 pm to 9m.
You can purchase tickets here: 2026 Tales from the Crypt – Visit Columbus MS Ticketing.
