Mississippi Bridge

Mississippi Bridge is part of Mildred D. Taylor's Logan family saga, a series of novels set in rural Mississippi during the 1930s. The story is told from the perspective of Jeremy Simms, a ten-year-old white boy, and unfolds over the course of a single rainy day.

Weeks of steady rain have left roads muddy and ceilings leaking. It is the tail end of winter, and there is little for men to do while they wait for planting season. Jeremy's father, Pa (known to others as Mr. Charlie), and his older brothers, R.W. and Melvin, spend their time at the Wallace store, where local white men gather around a potbellied stove to play checkers and discuss the hard times brought on by the Depression. Jeremy, too young to sit with the men, passes his days on the store's porch watching the crossroads and the weekly bus that crosses the bridge over Rosa Lee Creek.

On this day, Rudine Johnson, a young Black woman, arrives at the store with her mother. They carry string-tied suitcases, planning to travel. Inside, Rudine admires a wide-brimmed, summer-sky-blue hat on the counter and asks the store owner, Mr. John Wallace, if she can try it on. He refuses, explaining she can buy it but cannot try it on or return it, a restriction applied only to Black customers. Rudine admits she cannot afford it. Mr. John Wallace turns to the white men and dismisses her with a racial slur.

Shortly after, Miz Hattie McElroy, a white widow and Jeremy's former schoolteacher, arrives with her four-year-old granddaughter, Grace-Anne, a girl with sunshine-colored curls and green eyes whom Jeremy finds sweet and likable. Inside, Mr. John Wallace treats Miz Hattie with conspicuous courtesy, offering Grace-Anne candy and encouraging Miz Hattie to try on the same blue hat Rudine was denied. Miz Hattie puts it on and admires herself in the mirror while Rudine and her mother watch in silence.

Josias Williams, an unmarried Black man and Jeremy's fishing companion, arrives in his best clothes. He tells Jeremy he has a chance at a lumbering job along the Natchez Trace, a historic road in the region, and that if he arrives that day, the job is his. Inside the store, Josias shares his excitement, but Pa grows hostile, thumping the table and demanding to know how a Black man can claim a cash-paying job when white men cannot find work. Terrified, Josias recants, lying that he is only traveling to help a sick cousin. Pa sneers, and R.W. and Melvin gloat.

Jeremy follows Josias onto the porch, troubled. He reflects that Pa is cruel when it comes to Black people and recalls seeing Pa, R.W., Melvin, and others beat a Black man nearly to death for talking back. He tells Josias he knows the job is real and wishes Josias had not been forced to lie. Josias responds sharply: If he had contradicted Pa, he would be killed. After that, Josias refuses to speak to Jeremy.

The Logan family arrives next. Stacey Logan, ten years old like Jeremy, comes with his siblings Cassie, Christopher-John, and Little Man, along with their grandmother, Caroline, whom the children call Big Ma. Big Ma is heading to tend to her sick sister. Jeremy explains that the Logans own a large amount of land, unusual for a Black family. Pa resents them for having more than his own family, who are tenants, but Jeremy wants to befriend them, though Stacey keeps a guarded distance.

The bus arrives, and the driver lets Miz Hattie and Grace-Anne board first, seating them near the front. He takes the Black passengers' money outside before allowing them to board, and Josias, Rudine, her mother, and Big Ma all go to the back. As they pass empty seats near the front, Cassie calls out to Big Ma, wanting her to sit in one. Big Ma snaps at Cassie to be quiet, and Stacey hisses that those seats are for white people. His eyes meet Jeremy's, full of anger.

Big Ma orders the children to leave and deliver milk to a neighbor. Jeremy follows, wanting to talk to them, and passes two wagons carrying the Henry Amos family, white neighbors he recognizes from Smellings Creek, on the way. He accompanies the Logans onto the bridge over Rosa Lee Creek, a rickety structure said to have been built before the Civil War. On the bridge, the children play dangerously near rotted holes in the planks as rain intensifies and the creek rises below. Stacey orders them to stop and leads them across. Jeremy stays behind, sensing he is not welcome, and watches them disappear into the fog.

When Jeremy returns, the bus is still parked and the Henry Amos family has arrived to board, but the bus is full. The driver orders all the Black passengers to give up their seats. They comply. Big Ma gets off without a word, her face hard, and walks toward home. Rudine and her mother get off as well. Jeremy watches for Josias, but Josias has remained in his seat.

Josias pleads with the driver, explaining he has paid his fare and has important business. The driver mocks him and demands to know the nature of his business. Josias cannot reveal the truth. He begs to stay, saying people are expecting him. The driver grabs Josias, kicks him down the steps into the mud, and throws his bundle and ticket money after him. Jeremy runs after Josias, apologizing. Josias responds with quiet resignation that this is simply the way things are, then walks toward the bridge.

Pa catches Jeremy following Josias and strikes him repeatedly, berating him for associating with Black people. He insists that Black people and white people have separate places. Jeremy says he understands but inwardly disagrees, believing people are just people.

The bus overtakes Jeremy and speeds onto the bridge, but halfway across, it spins out of control on the rotten planks, smashes through the railing, and plunges into the swollen waters of Rosa Lee Creek. Josias emerges from the fog and catches Jeremy just before he reaches the broken railing. They watch the bus float belly-up and sink. Jeremy screams about Miz Hattie and Grace-Anne. Josias tells Jeremy to run to the store for help while Josias goes into the water to rescue passengers.

Jeremy delivers the news, and the men rush to the bridge. Pa directs the rescue and orders Jeremy to ring the church bell. Before he can leave, the Logan children come running back, see the wreckage, and scream for Big Ma. Jeremy tells them the driver forced all the Black passengers off before the crash and that Big Ma is safe. Stacey accepts his words, tells his siblings they are going home, and they run off.

Jeremy sees Josias emerge from the water carrying a small, limp body with sunshine-colored hair: Grace-Anne. Josias lays her on the bank next to the still body of Miz Hattie, who has the summer-sky-blue hat still pinned to her hair. Both are dead. Jeremy asks why. Josias says he cannot question the Lord's ways, only that the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Jeremy runs to the church and rings the bell, crying the entire time. He cannot make sense of the day: Miz Hattie and Grace-Anne, who never hurt anyone, died on the bus, while Big Ma, Josias, Rudine, and her mother, forced off because of their race, survived. As people arrive, Jeremy runs back to the creek, takes one last look at the bodies, then wades into the water to help Josias. The two remain in the water together for the rest of the day.