Albert Blum was the third generation of Jews who had emigrated to the Mississippi Delta from Alsace-Lorraine, a european border area fought over by the Germans and the French. He was the scion to the Delta's most prestigious clothing store, Nelms and Blum's, in Greenville, Mississippi. An airman in World War I and a well known ladies man, he worked in the business until his retirement in the 1970's. (Kenneth Haxton collection. Photo ca. 1918)