The 2018-19 Annual Report, published by the College of Business and Economic Development at The University of Southern Mississippi, tells stories of outstanding achievements made by our faculty, students, staff, donors, and alumni over the course of the academic year.
and go to the beach for the day. She and her roommate, Bernice
Snowden, who had also attended East Central with Miriam, remained
friends until Bernice passed away a few years ago.
While reminiscing on her time in the Accounting program, Miriam
told stories about her favorite professors and classes. “Mr. Scott
would put a copy of our exam, turned upside down, on each student’s
desk. There were a couple times in Cost Accounting that Mr. Scott
said, ‘Thanks to Miss Moore, I had to change this exam.’ He would
say it with a grin.” Mr. Scott was making changes to the exam so
that the questions were also relatable for Miriam, as all were geared
specifically toward men at the time.
“I LOVED MY ACCOUNTING CLASSES AND TOOK EVERY
ADVANCED CLASS THAT THEY TAUGHT IN MY TWO YEARS AT
SOUTHERN MISS. EVEN THOUGH I WAS THE ONLY FEMALE
IN MY CLASSES, MY MALE CLASSMATES WERE VERY
SUPPORTIVE AND ALWAYS TREATED ME WITH RESPECT.”
“When I was about ready to graduate, Dr. Joe Greene, the dean of the
Business School, said he had checked the records back as far as he
could, and as far as he could tell, I was the first female to graduate from
[Southern Miss] in accounting.”
Once she graduated from Southern Miss, Miriam followed in her father’s
footsteps and joined the Navy in 1953. She was the only female in her
company of 30. “They took good care of me, treated me like they would
have their little sister. One of the guys in my company gave me the
nickname, Mim.”
Mim worked as a disbursing officer for two years in San Diego before leaving
to marry her husband, Don Adamson. A few years later, Don secured a
position at IBM, which they jokingly said stood for “I’ve Been Moved.” The
Adamson family moved 15 times over a 30-year period, living in places such
as Michigan, Louisiana, New York, Connecticut, Georgia and Mississippi.
In each new location, Mim would quickly find an accounting position
and begin work again. Due to these frequent moves, Mim had the
opportunity to work for quite a few interesting companies.
While the family lived in New York during the late ‘60s, Mim worked
as a bookkeeper for Mr. Ed Jurist, who owned Vintage Car Store, and
the name says it all. “At the time, it was the largest vintage car dealer
in the country. He always had a showroom filled with cars that men
drooled over.” Mim mentions Jurist owning and selling vehicles, such as
Phantom IV Rolls and Excalibur cars.
When the family moved to Boca Raton, Florida, in the mid ‘70s, Mim
accepted a position at Creative Ceramics working for Elliott Mackle.
The company was transitioning into a ceramics manufacturer, building
a factory, hiring employees and starting production, and Mim was
hired to set up and run an accounting system for the growing business.
In Connecticut, Mim secured a job as an accountant for Mr. Scott Savage,
the owner of Savage Eye Wear and other businesses. Scott invented certain
swim goggles and nylon frames for eye glasses and different types of ski
goggles. “His goggles were used in the Winter Olympics at least one year.”
Miriam also secured jobs through various CPA firms, being assigned
to work temporarily for companies in need. “Without my degree
in accounting from USM, I could never have held the jobs that I did.
Professor Robert Scott did a great job of preparing the accounting
majors for life outside of college.” She described her courses as being
taught by professors that cared about and assisted with her success.
In addition to Mim’s career, she has always been very involved in volunteer
work. She set the books up for Boca Raton Methodist Church in Florida
while living there. She was elected president of the Board of Trustees at
Long Ridge Methodist Church in Connecticut, where she led the initiative
to renovate their Fellowship Hall. She was on the Finance Committee at the
First Methodist Church in Greensboro. She started a coffee club of 10 ladies,
which grew to over 350 members who lead many volunteer projects. She
joined the Missions Committee at her church in Hattiesburg.
Mim and her husband of 65 years have three children (Debbie, Doug and
Cindy), six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is known by the
family as a “self-taught technology whiz.” In fact, while her granddaughter
was in graduate school a few years ago, Mim was called for assistance
with a group project involving Excel. Shocking the fellow group members,
Mim immediately knew how to solve the problem they were experiencing!
Mim and Don retired in Georgia
before moving to Hattiesburg
in 1997. “We just decided we
wanted to be some place with a
college campus and in a city that
has what Hattiesburg has.”
They have travelled the world
to places, such as Hong Kong,
Australia, Switzerland, Ireland,
China, Scandinavia, Thailand,
England, Italy, Austria, Russia
and many, many more.
3 + 2 = ?
FEMALE ACCOUNTANT, DOG MATHEMATICIAN
Miriam owned a dog that could do simple addition problems. Kuddles, the peek-a-poo, could be asked to add two
single-digit numbers together and tap out the correct answer with her paw in the palm of your hand. She eventually
got so good, she could tap out the family’s zip code. She was featured in multiple newspaper articles, performed for
schools and churches, and became a sensation in each of the towns the Adamson family moved to.
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