A distinguished Deltan

Woods Eastland retired as President and CEO of Staplcotn in September of 2010. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Staplcotn Cooperative Association and Staple Cotton Discount Corporation. Staplcotn is America’s oldest farmer owned cotton marketing cooperative, marketing Memphis/Eastern cotton.

Eastland will quickly tell you that being retired does not mean that he isn’t working. “I love to work, that’s my hobby,” Eastland says. He is also finalizing the closure of his family’s farming operations in Sunflower County.

The Doddsville, Mississippi native has led an unusual and rewarding lifestyle. As the son of the late United States Senator James O. and Elizabeth Eastland, his growing up years were entirely different from most Delta children.

“When the Senate was in session, we lived in Washington, and I went to school there. When the summer recess rolled around, we came home to Doddsville,” he says.

Eastland admits that while his lifestyle might seem glamorous to some, at times it was difficult. “Yes, it could be difficult for a child, spending many months in a cosmopolitan atmosphere and then coming back to the farm. However, as I grew into an adult, I realized that the advantages far outweighed any disadvantages,” he says.

When asked to name one of his most memorable experiences while growing up in the famed Eastland household, he didn’t reveal the names of some of the famous people he had met or any of the notable events he attended.

“My father was a very busy man, and many nights he worked long hours in Congress, but the nights he was at home he would come into my bedroom and sit on the side of my bed. We would talk and there was one thing he would always make me promise before he left my room. Dad would say that he wanted me to promise that I would never lie and that I would never steal. I’ll wager that I heard that request a hundred times,” he says. Eastland became very pensive for a few moments and then added, “I haven’t forgotten and I won’t.”

The promise worked, Eastland has led an exemplary life, not only in the workforce, but also in his personal life.

As he reflected on his youth, he commented about the fact that a spotlight is always on the children of well-known people—especially politicians. “There is always the tendency to try to lead a perfect life and, of course, that’s impossible, but the feeling is there,” he says.

One factor in keeping his life on an even keel in spite of the publicity his father received was his mother. “My mother was simply not impressed with Washington social life. She chose not to be a part of it. Her life was her family, taking care of my father and my sisters and myself. She tried to keep our lives as simple as possible. I think she is one of the main reasons that it was easy for me to have as normal of a childhood as I did,” he says.

When Eastland went to college at Vanderbilt in the 1960’s, it was a difficult time for the youth of America. “It was an unhappy time, there was so much conflict going on, there were anti-war demonstrators, the dress code was non-existent, students were disheveled to say the least as were some of the professors. I guess I didn’t fit in because I was brought up to believe in doing the right thing. I suppose you could say that I was a square then just as I am now,” Eastland says with a chuckle.

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, he went on to obtain his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Mississippi School Of Law. He then served as a Lieutenant, Judge Advocate General’s Corps in the United States Naval Reserve from 1970 until 1972. He went on to practice law with the prestigious firm of Brunini, Grantham, Grower, and Hewes in Jackson, and he was a faculty member of the Jackson School of Law from 1972 until 1974.

While stationed in San Francisco in the Naval Reserve, he considered making his home there. “It was absolutely beautiful in California and there were great opportunities, but home was calling,” he says.

Even as a youngster while spending much of the year in the nation’s capitol, the call of the Delta was alive in Eastland. In 1974, he began farming the family farm and became a producer of cotton, soybeans, and rice in the Doddsville area. From his farming experience, he was elected a director of Staplcotn in 1977.

In 1986, he was selected as President of the organization known world wide. He served as its president and chief executive officer until September of 2010.

His business accomplishments are as varied as his association with the practice of law and farming. He is a director of Delta Council, advisor to the Board of Directors of Cotton Council International, and advisor to the Board of Directors of the National Cotton Council. He is past chairman of National Cotton Council, past president and chairman of Cotton Council International and a past director of the Memphis Branch Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He was a member of the Board of Managers of New York Cotton Exchange and became a member of the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Trade. He served one year as vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the New York Board of Trade.

Recently he was bestowed the honor of 2011 Distinguished Citizen Award by the Chickasaw Council Boy Scouts of America. This award recognizes noteworthy and extraordinary leadership of citizens in communities across the United States.

Former Chancellor of the University of Mississippi, Dr. Robert Khayat was the keynote speaker. He paid glowing tribute to the honoree.

Dr. Khayat said it was very fitting for Eastland to receive this high award because he personified everything in the Scout Law. “When you look at the Scout Law, the twelve things are trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. When you look at those, you are talking about Woods Eastland,” Kyayat comments.

Mike Sturdivant, Jr. was one of the presenters of the award. “I don’t believe I have ever seen such a large crowd at an event such as this at this facility. It is certainly a tribute to Woods and his family and one that he is so deserving of,” Sturdivant says.

Eastland enjoys duck hunting and reading and is most interested in historical books and biographies. “I enjoy my grandchildren so much as well as other family, but like I said in the beginning, the thing I like most of all to do is work,” he says.

When asked about people that he admires and he believes have made and are making contributions to a better life for America, he didn’t hesitate. “Well, look at Dr. Jonas Salk and the tremendous contributions he made in finding a vaccine for polio. I also think that men like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs changed our lives dramatically. We live in a computerized world and these men made it accessible to the every day citizen. I have great admiration for the late President Ronald Reagan. He brought respectability back to our country; he gave us reason to be proud to be Americans. I also believe that Dr. Martin Luther King made us realize that we had a long way to go when one thought about that phrase “all men are created equal”—he fought for equality and brought us to the realization that our country needed this desperately. I was glad to see that a monument has been erected in his honor in Washington,” he says.

Even though he officially retired, he still returns to Greenwood several times a week with his duties where he serves as Chairman of the Board of Staplcotn Cooperative Association and Staplcotn Discount Corporation. He serves on several other boards and has recently been named to the B.B. King Museum Board of Directors.

He is licensed by the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi to serve as a lay reader and is a member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Indianola. He is married to the former Lynn Wood of Hollandale, and they have two children, Susan Lane Eastland McCluer of Oxford and James Bradford Eastland of Atlanta. The Eastlands have three grandchildren.

The Rev. Wilson Webb, Rector of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church had this to say about Eastland. “One may be assured that it is like Woods said, he will be working, and whatever it is—whether in business, his church, or for his community—it will be beneficial to others. That’s the kind of man he is.” DBJ