Gilbert Mason Jr. witnessed the first Biloxi Wade-In as a young child, grew up listening to civil rights leaders who visited his home, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a doctor to the poor and then made it his mission to keep his father’s legacy and Black history alive in South Mississippi.
Mason died Wednesday after spending the last several years of his life documenting that history and the accomplishments of his father, Dr. Gilbert Mason Sr., who led the first Biloxi Wade-In on the beach in 1959.
Mason Jr. was on the beach with his father in 1959.
“He was 5 years old at the time,” said Clemon Jimerson Sr., who considered Dr. Mason Sr. as a surrogate father after his parents’ divorce and Mason Jr. as his little brother.
Mason Sr. led eight other adults and children onto a beach in Biloxi in the first wade-in protest of Black residents not being allowed to use the beach. It would take a “Bloody Sunday” wade-in, several more protests and more than a decade before an appeals court judge ruled the beach is open to all members of the public.
Dr. Gilbert Mason Jr., was in attendance at remembrance ceremony in 2007 honoring his father and others who participated in the Biloxi wade-ins. Tim Isbell ttisbell@sunherald.com
Desegregating Biloxi schools
Mason Jr. had a front row seat to the civil rights movement.
“When we came here to Biloxi, there were only segregated waiting rooms and no hospital for blacks. There was only a small house on Division Street that was maintained as an infirmary for people of color,” he said in an interview with Go To Places Monthly.
In the 1960s, representatives from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Justice Department visited Biloxi. “Those amazing people were always in the house talking about civil right issues,” he said.
Mason Jr.’s name was on the 1971 lawsuit against Biloxi Municipal Separate School District, which required the district to implement the provisions for desegregation of faculty and staff.
“We worked on many projects to preserve the civil rights history,” Jimerson said.
Preserving civil rights history in Mississippi
Mason Jr. had a photographic memory, just like his father did.
“He just had a gift from God to be able to do that,” Jimerson said, and it helped as they worked to document the history of Scouting on the Coast, the music history of Biloxi and other areas for the Mississippi Blues Trail, the integration of Coast schools and the preservation of Nichols Elementary, the historically Black school in East Biloxi.
Mason also worked on the City Within a City Project with David Perkes and The Design Studio in Biloxi, and an exhibition at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum to highlight the vibrant and segregated area of Biloxi after World War II.
And every year he would organize the Wade-In anniversary observance, said Allytra Perryman, former program director at East Biloxi Community Collaborative and now lead organizer for ROC Mississippi.
‘He was a phenomenal historian who could recall details and knew exactly how to connect the dots,” she said, and what people were involved. “Recounting that history has just been priceless.”
Mason was firm, she said, and had a vision for each project — and no problems making sure it was carried out to his liking.
“He did not hold his tongue with anyone,” she said.
“He had a genuine heart and compassion for his father’s work,” said Councilman Felix Gines. “I believe he felt like the work was entrusted to him to carry it forward.”
Mason’s daughter, Aria Mason-Folse, said her father set out to do something difficult when he went into medicine and the actions he took to preserve her grandfather’s work were commendable.
“It was work that needed to be done and it was important that he did it,” she said.
She hopes to take that work in a more universal direction that encourages others, she said, and also honor her grandmother, Natalie Hamlar Mason.
“I’m glad that he kept the wade-in celebrations going,” said his former wife, Givonna Joseph. She hopes in the future to do something to honor medical and social work in the community and keep the Mason legacy going in Biloxi.
Gilbert Mason Jr. speaks during a ceremony to commemorate the anniversary of the Biloxi Beach Wade-Ins on Saturday, June 25, 2016. He spent years preserving the Black history in Biloxi and the legacy of his father, Dr. Gilbert Mason Sr. Amanda McCoy amccoy@sunherald.com
A doctor in his father’s footsteps
Mason decided to go to school and become a doctor like his dad, said James Crowell, director of of the Biloxi NAACP. His practice was working with underprivileged patients in the New Orleans area.
He returned to Biloxi when his father became ill.
“After his dad died, he obtained a grant to redo Dr. Mason’s office on Division Street,” Crowell said. The grant was through the Department of Archives and History, and Mason wanted to open it as a museum.
Mason was involved in getting a mural painted on Main Street to commemorate the Wade-In, as well as the installment of a historical marker on the beach. The marker was dedicated in 2020 and is a timeline of the wade-ins.
“Anytime there were civil rights issues in Biloxi, he would call and talk and give me some advice and how we should proceed,” Crowell said.
‘The Walking Dead’ & James Brown
His sister, Angie Juzang, recalled all the ways he was special, as only a sister can.
“He was a complicated man with a complex personality: persistent, intelligent, arrogant, unmoving and funny. His late night texts and daily emails will be missed,” she said.
While he was being treated for health issues, Mason would shoot off emails on his phone and always signed them with his initials “GRM.”
“He was somebody that I just always respected, and not just because he was the son of a famous civil rights leader on the Coast,” said John Fitzhugh, who worked with Mason on visuals for the 2020 Wade-In Memorial.
“He was a fun person,” Fitzhugh said, who would send out email links to upcoming concerts. They went to a music festival in New Orleans he said, and the two friends had planned to go together to a show at the new Ground Zero Blues Club in Biloxi.
Juzang said her brother brought to her life an appreciation of music — “up and coming artists specifically, live entertainment, documentaries, poetry and the arts in general. He has a music collection unrivaled by many.”
“He was always digging for information, new programming and books he could get excited about and shared his enthusiasm with those he knew would celebrate his findings,” she said.
Juzang said she didn’t give the television show “The Walking Dead” a second look until he told he told her it’s a story about relationships and survival. “It’s was and is one of my favorite programs,” she said.
He introduced her to new music and said, “He was able to predict, with great accuracy, which musicians were going to be hugely successful.”
He was in the audience in 1966 when R&B great James Brown performed in Biloxi, and he spearheaded an anniversary event 50 years later.
He was 12 years old at the time and Mason remembered Brown drawing an audience of Black and white fans. That concert was one of the first where seating was open, not designated along racial lines. In “Forrest Gump” fashion, Mason was there for that historic moment.
Funeral services are being handled by Infinity Funeral Home and are private. Memorial contributions can be made to the Biloxi branch of NAACP, OperaCréole of New Orleans and the Natalie Hamlar Mason Scholarship given by MS Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Dr. Gilbert Mason Jr. is pictured at the 2020 Biloxi Wade-In remembrance with a plaque that was installed on the beach with a timeline of the wade-ins. He was 5 at the first wade-in protest with his father, Dr. Gilbert Mason Sr. Courtesy of John Fitzhugh
Dr. Gilbert Mason Jr., was in attendance at remembrance ceremony in 2007 honoring his father and others who participated in the Biloxi wade-ins. Tim Isbell ttisbell@sunherald.com
Dr. Gilbert Mason Jr. reminisces about attending R&B icon James Brown’s Biloxi performance 50 years ago, during a tribute to Frank ‘Yankie’ Barhanovich, a Biloxi businessman whose efforts as a music promoter brought the country’s big names to the Coast. Gordon Jackson Special to the Sun Herald
This story was originally published May 20, 2022 at 5:50 AM.
Mary has won numerous awards for her business and casino articles for the Sun Herald. She also writes about Biloxi, jobs and the new restaurants and development coming to the Coast. She is a fourth-generation journalist.
