Mississippi Civil Rights Project

Thurl Metzger, former Heifer executive director, was involved in the project since its inception, visiting the Prentiss campus many times.

Educator and noted civil rights activist Dorothy Height talks about Heifer's involvement at the Prentiss Institute as the inspiration for her own initiative the "pig bank"in her 2003 memoir "Open Wide

In 1907 the Prentiss Institute was founded by Jonas Edward "J.E."Johnson (a Laurel native) and his wife Bertha LaBranche Johnson (of Wesson). Mr.

Bertha LaBranche Johnson was born in Wesson. She was the co-founder of not only the Prentiss Institute but also the Oak Park Vocational School of Laurel.