Carroll Ingram has worn plenty of different hats during his lifetime, but representing the Pine Belt as a progressive and forward-thinking State Senator was an experience he’ll definitely never forget.
In eight short years, he went from being a rookie lawmaker to serving as chairman of one of the state senate’s most powerful committees to serious conversations about him running for lieutenant governor, his near meteoric rise to prominence in state politics during the 1970s almost never happened.
In fact, Ingram credits narrowly losing his first campaign for a seat in the State House of Representatives while attending the University of Southern Mississippi that ultimately opened the door to his successful career in politics.
“One door closes and another one opens,” he said. “It’s funny how that works sometimes.”
A native of Covington County, Ingram was born in 1942 and was the sixth of seven children born to Buford and Ludie Ingram.
Raised on his family’s farm near Seminary in the Sanford community, Carroll and his siblings worked the farm to help make ends meet.
“My parents had 160 acres they farmed and had another 100 or so acres that they leased. The income derived from the farm and lease is how our parents kept a roof over our head.”
Carroll’s father was very community-minded and despite having limited means, Buford served in various capacities in local politics and was always an active member of the Seminary Baptist Church.
His father’s commitment to public service did not go unnoticed to Carroll so after graduating from Seminary High School with the Class of 1960, he enrolled at Jones County Junior College and made it a point to find various ways to get plugged in on campus.
It was while attending JCJC that he reconnected with a young woman that grew up not far from him back home in Covington County.
“Her name was Annelle and she was tall and she was beautiful.”
The two had actually met several years earlier when Annelle performed with a singing trio at a revival at the church Carroll attended.
“She was absolutely wonderful to look at, but we didn’t engage with each other much at the time. But I hadn’t forgot about her.”
At JCJC, their paths crossed again and after a brief courtship, they became unseparable. In fact, fifty-eight years later, they’re still together.
After two years at JCJC, they transferred to Southern Miss together and it was while studying there that Carroll decided to throw his hat in the ring for a seat in the Mississippi House of Representatives serving the citizens of Sanford and the surrounding area.
“I lost that first election by just a few votes and at the time, I was pretty disappointed. Looking back, it turned out just as it should have.”
Undeterred, Ingram returned to school, finished up his undergrad studies at the University of Southern Mississippi and they headed north to Oxford to the Ole Miss School of Law.
“I knew two things from a very early age,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be a lawyer and I knew I wanted to be involved in public service.”
Now married, Annelle finished up her undergrad degree at Ole Miss and taught school while Carroll finished up his studies.
Their son, Joel, was born that same year and was in the audience as a newborn at Carroll’s graduation ceremony.
“We always knew we wanted to come back to Hattiesburg,” said Ingram. “So that’s what we did. I had been spending my summers interning here with Francis Zachary and Jack Weldy and after I graduated and passed the bar, they graciously invited me to join their firm.”
Back in the Pine Belt, the young Ingram family found a home and they set out like most young professionals – trying to find their way and make a name for themselves in their newly-adopted hometown.
“You know, for those first 15 years, I would have to say that one-half of every single dollar that came into my practice was directly attributable to my mother and daddy and my wife’s parents and our extended family. I always made it a point to leave my door open to my friends and family back in Covington County and the impact of their support in those early years always meant so very much to me.”
With a budding legal practice to keep him busy and a growing family that now included a newborn daughter, Jennifer, Ingram said he quietly began looking for opportunities to seek public office.
“I didn’t necessarily have a timetable, but I knew it was something that I wanted to pursue,” he said.
In the summer of 1971, the state legislature had gone through a redistricting process and as a result, a new senate district was created that included all of Forrest, Lamar, and Stone counties.
Ingram said he was vaguely aware of a impending date to qualify, but it was a fate encounter with Francis Zachary, the same attorney that had given him his first job a few years earlier, that pushed him – almost literally – to throw his hat in the ring.
“I was eating lunch at the old Red Carpet Inn on Main Street and Francis and several other local business leaders also happened to be there when my name came up as a possible candidate to fill the newly-created seat.”
Little did he know that it also happened to be the very last day to qualify in order to be included on the ballot.
“As I remember, we had five or six hours to get the paperwork gathered, filed, accepted, and so forth,” he said. “But somehow we pulled it off.”
Ingram said he sheepishly made his way home shortly after 5 o’clock that evening and broke the news to Annelle.
“I remember her looking at me and wondering how in the world we were going to make it happen, but we did.”
There ended up being five Democrats who had qualified and a few more on the Republican ticket.
In a crowded field, Ingram managed to garner about 49% of the vote, which pushed him into a contentious runoff with a gentleman from Purvis.
While trying to manage his first “real” campaign for public office, Ingram found himself at the center of a controversy surrounding an international student from Africa who had made an application to join University Baptist Church, where Ingram was serving as chairman of the Board of Deacons.
“We didn’t see any reason to prohibit him from joining our congregation, but the fact he was black rubbed some people the wrong way,” he said. “The next thing I know, it’s a big issue in the campaign and some people were accusing of trying to break up the church. Some ugly things were said and some threatening late-night phone calls were received, but in the end Ingram stood his ground and did what he still believes to this day, was the right thing to do by welcoming the student into the church family.
When it was all said and done, Ingram not only won the run-off, but he went on to win the general election by a considerable margin.
He wasn’t quite 30 years old Carroll Ingram was officially a member of the Mississippi State Senate.
Bill Waller, a fellow Democrat, was governor.
“I had progressive thoughts and ideas and I happened to be at the right place at the right time. When I was elected to the State Senate, William Winter was serving as lieutenant governor and because I had campaigned for him and because we knew one another, I was able to secure some choice committee assign-ments right out of the gate. I can’t tell you how many doors that opened for me as a freshman legislator.”
Ingram said he always considered himself fortunate.
“I knew what opportunities were being presented to me and I worked as hard as I could to make sure I didn’t disappoint anyone – especially my constituents back home.”
After those first four years, Ingram said it was much easier to focus on the progressive issues that the incoming lieutenant governor wanted to champion.
“The fact it was Evelyn Gandy and the fact she was from Hattiesburg certainly worked in my favor.”
Along with several other young peers in the Senate, Ingram was part of a coalition of senators known as the “Gandy Boys.”
Carroll served as chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee while other members of the coalition chaired other key committees.
“It was truly a wonderful time to be serving in state government,” he said.
With Gandy calling the shots, they set out an aggressive legislative schedule – the most significant of which was the reform of the state’s 16th Section properties.
“It was perhaps the biggest legislative fight this state has seen in the last 40 years. Local school districts fought it. County boards of supervisors fought it. The last thing they wanted was to lose local control.”
However, it was that local control that Ingram said had led to widespread corruption throughout the state.
“The system was broke and it needed to be fixed. I was proud to help carry that mantel.”
The reform package was eventually passed by the House and the Senate and in the years since its passage, the reform Ingram helped fight for has resulted in literally hundreds of millions of dollars being earmarked and secured for local education efforts.
When his second four-year term was up, Ingram was at the top of a short list of names being floated as possible candidates for lieutenant governor.
It was something he seriously considered.
“Yes, I thought about it for quite some time. But at the end of the day, I felt like it was time for me to come home to Hattiesburg to focus on my law practice. I needed to make a living for my family – and for myself.”
His friend and former colleague, Evelyn Gandy, also returned to Hattiesburg and joined his legal practice.
A photograph of her still hangs in the office located near Forrest General Hospital.
“I absolutely thought the world of Evelyn Gandy,” he said. “She only fought for things that she believed in and as a result, she was able to be at the forefront of so many very important issues that have had longstanding affects on our state.”
After leaving the state senate, Ingram continued to be active in state and local campaigns and political issues – something he continues even today.
Looking back at his political career, Ingram said he doesn’t have any regrets, but does worry about the current state of partisan politics – not only here in Mississippi, but in Washington.
“Things didn’t used to be this way,” he said. “I was able to work with my Republican counterparts and we were always able to set aside our differences and find common ground. That doesn’t seem to happen very much these days. It’s disheartening, but I have not given up hope.”
In fact, Ingram said he hopes that is how he will be remembered:
“He worked honorably within the political process. He worked hard. And he never gave up on our democracy.”
