On January 24, 2024, John Ramsey Miller and Stephen Smith presented “McCartys of Merigold—The Jewelry” as part of the History Is Lunch series.
Before they became Internationally renowned potters, Lee and Pup McCarty made and sold their own jewelry. Lee McCarty took a jewelry class while doing graduate work at Columbia, and Pup learned the mechanics of working metals from him. Later in Mississippi the young couple worked at a bench in their garage to create modern-style necklaces, rings, cuff links, and bracelets using scrapped gold, copper, brass, and sterling silver.
“Lee and Pup loved making jewelry, which they did for three years before taking the introductory pottery class at Ole Miss in 1949,” said Miller, author of the new book McCartys of Merigold, Mississippi—The Jewelry, 1948-2015. “They owned an enameling oven long before they owned a ceramics kiln.”
Miller’s book is the first devoted to the jewelry produced by Lee McCarty (1923-2015) and Pup McCarty (1926-2009), and it brings together more than a hundred images of pieces created over the decades.
“They never stopped making jewelry,” said Stephen Smith, one of the McCartys’ godsons who now operates the business along with his brother Jamie. “The day before Lee died he was making copper crosses.”
John Ramsey Miller was born in Grenville and educated at Delta State University and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. His previous book is McCartys of Merigold, Mississippi—The Pottery. A former photojournalist and screenwriter, Miller is a New York Times bestselling author of seven suspense novels and a nonfiction book.
Stephen Smith grew up in Merigold. He earned his BA in German literature from Davidson College, then studied law at the University of Georgia. Smith is a member of the board of directors of the USA /International Ballet Competition in Jackson, and a member of the University of Georgia Libraries’ Board of Visitors.
History Is Lunch is a weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History that explores all aspects of the state’s past. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North Street in Jackson and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
