Roebuck “Pops” Staples, who lived on the Dockery plantation near Drew in the 1920s and ’30s, founded the Staple Singers, one of America’s foremost singing groups. The group included his children Cleotha and Pervis Staples, who were born at Dockery, and Mavis and Yvonne, who were born after the family moved to Chicago in 1936. Building their distinctive sound on gospel and blues traditions from the Drew area, the Staple Singers brought messages of love, hope, and peace to audiences for half a century and recorded gospel, rhythm and blues, and pop hits including the No. 1 records “I’ll Take You There” and “Let’s Do It Again.” Roebuck Staples, born near Winona in 1914, moved around 1923 with his parents and siblings to Will Dockery’s plantation near Drew, an important breeding ground for Delta blues, where local artists Charley Patton, Howlin’ Wolf, Dick Bankston, and Jim Holloway inspired him to take up guitar and perform at local juke joints. By fifteen he was singing with gospel groups, and after moving to Chicago he formed the Staple Singers in 1948. The original group featured Cleotha, Pervis, and Mavis, and first recorded for Pops’ own Royal label in 1953. National attention came with the 1956 hit “Uncloudy Day” on the Vee-Jay label, and in the early 1960s the group was refashioned as a folk gospel act. They became active participants in the civil rights movement, recording anthems including “Freedom Highway” and “Why (Am I Treated So Bad),” a favorite of their close friend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1968 they signed with Stax Records and had numerous hits with positive-message songs including “I’ll Take You There” and “Respect Yourself.” After Pervis left to pursue artist management and song publishing, Yvonne joined the group, and their last major hit was the Curtis Mayfield-penned “Let’s Do It Again” in 1975. Both Mavis and Pops later had successful solo careers. The Drew area also produced or was home to other musicians in the post-World War II era, including guitarist Boyd Gilmore, drummer Kansas City Red, singer James Kinds, fiddler Sylvester Davis and the Lard Can Band, vocalist-pianist Homer Harris, Charles “Guitar” Friday, and schoolteacher-keyboardist Jesse Gresham.