Greenwood Soul Mates –
Mayor Carolyn McAdams

For us, “soul” represents that unique essence each person contributes to their community, weaving a colorful tapestry of stories, talents, cultural experiences, and more. In Greenwood, this tapestry is formed by numerous unique individuals whose captivating stories and deep connections to the region’s food, music and history define our identity as a town and make Greenwood such an extraordinary place to visit. These remarkable individuals are our “Soul Mates.”

Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams

“People really get captured and engulfed in what’s going on in our city because of the hospitality and the charm of the people. Mississippi has always had a storytelling heritage – Greenwood is no different.”

Those are the words of today’s Soul Mate, Greenwood Mayor Carolyn McAdams.

It is often said that the best politicians are those who have no interest in becoming one. This holds true for Mayor McAdams. Even though she never wanted to enter the world of politics and didn’t care for politics in general, her friends, family, and others who knew her understood that her interest and passion would make her a great politician. And what was that interest and passion toward? Greenwood, Mississippi.

“I had no interest in being a political figure. But a group of folks encouraged me to run in 2009. So, once I finally agreed, I didn’t take it lightly – knocking on every door in Greenwood that year and the rest is history.”

Mayor McAdams was so indifferent to politics that she didn’t even associate with a party and ran as an independent. But of course, in a town like Greenwood, politics has less to do with her daily responsibilities than her engagement with citizens and her passion for supporting others.

“One of the first things I established was an open-door policy,” said Mayor McAdams, now in her fourth term. “Regardless of your race, religion, sexual orientation or what your problem is here in town, I’m going to help you if I have the ability to do so. I think I work in fairness, and everyone has seen my ability to be fair and consistent in my decision-making.”

Ironically, Mayor McAdams’s love of Greenwood was strengthened while she was living elsewhere. For six years, she traveled as a military spouse, including two years in the Republic of the Philippines. But she always loved coming back.

“It’s hard to leave Greenwood once you come here and live,” she said. “It’s in your bones. It’s in your DNA.”

When she first returned to Greenwood for good in the 1970s, she started her career in public service as the Section 8 Coordinator with the Greenwood Housing Authority, where she served for 15 years. Following that, she secured a position with the Corrections Corporation of America as a business manager when they constructed a correctional facility in Greenwood, and for the past 16 years, she has served as the city’s beloved mayor.

Once she became mayor, she went to work preserving Greenwood’s historic city hall while bringing life to the town. She leveraged her efforts working on the chamber of commerce through several committees, especially the community pride committee, to see her vision successfully through to completion.

“City Hall just needed some uplifting, some brightness. We wanted to have very little change historically, but we needed a different look. Now we have new floors, furniture, and paint, and it just makes everyone happier.”

But her improvements to City Hall were just the start of her prolific mayoral career. Once she got the building looking great and everyone’s pride at an all-time high, she made her first goal as mayor to create a recycling center. When she was community pride committee chairman, she saw the need because the landfill was taking on too much.

“When I got to be mayor, I found out I had the power to create a recycling center, so we did,” she said. “We took an old picture frame building the city acquired many years ago and turned it into the first recycling center in the Delta, and it’s still going on today. People are excited about it, and the kids go out there because it’s a learning experience. They can see how recycling is generated into actual income.”

After her success with City Hall and the recycling center, she set out to create the first comprehensive plan for Greenwood in 30 years. Part of that plan was to clean up the downtown area. Viking Range Corporation founder Fred Carl Jr. bought many of the downtown historic buildings, including the Alluvian Hotel on Howard Street, where Viking now holds its famous cooking school across the street. So, the clean-up project matched what Viking was doing with its properties.

“People always talked about how beautiful and gorgeous the Greenwood downtown area is, so I wanted to go in and make it a real treasure,” she said. “Architecturally, Greenwood is one of the prettiest cities in the state of Mississippi. We’ve been renovating and cleaning the four streets downtown, and we hope to be finished by 2025.”

These success stories had a ripple effect, as Mayor McAdams also tightened up building code enforcement to improve cleanliness and encouraged the city to invest in its parks, sidewalks and streets. She also helped develop the Yazoo River Trail in Greenwood.

But to her, Greenwood is more than all of that. It’s a feeling and way of life. And if that doesn’t rub off on you, Mayor McAdams can’t help you.

“If you don’t want to have fun and don’t want to be a fun-loving person, then don’t live in Greenwood,” she said. “Greenwood creates fun and hospitality, and everyone has a good time.”

Part of her love goes beyond Greenwood and expands to the entire Mississippi Delta. As mayor, she joined the Mississippi Municipal League and became friends with other local mayors. She considers all the Delta mayors as one big happy family.

“We want to be able to say to tourists, ‘Hey, you need to go up the road to Indianola to see the BB King Museum and then a little further to Cleveland to see the Grammy Museum,’” said Mayor McAdams, who is close friends with Cleveland Mayor Billy Nowell. “They’ve got a great boutique hotel there. It’s wonderful. Then, send them on to Clarksdale to visit Ground Zero to hear some of the best blues music in the world. We all have something to offer in our Mississippi Delta towns.”

Despite all the hustle and bustle of being mayor, McAdams loves to talk about her daughters. She has two ––one who lives in Memphis with her four children and another in Greenwood with three children. All in all, Mayor McAdams has seven grandchildren, one great-grandchild and another on the way. Her youngest granddaughter will graduate from high school next year.

“They keep me busy and active, which is fabulous,” she said. “I attribute that to having a young mind from all these grandchildren. They are probably my biggest critics. If something doesn’t happen right in Greenwood, I will hear about it from them, too.”

When asked to describe Greenwood in one word, Mayor McAdams said “charismatic.”

“That’s Greenwood to me,” she said. “People hear stories and just want to know more and more.” Mayor McAdams credits her mother, who lived to be 99, for instilling in her many of the stories she has the honor of passing along, keeping the memories of her mother and the city’s history alive and well. “There’s something about Greenwood that’s contagious. It’s like when you smile at somebody, and they smile back. That’s the reaction that forms the soul of Greenwood, the warmth and attributes people bring.”

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