'The Six Triple Eight' by Tyler Perry

 

I’m happy to report that two women from Natchez, MS, were members of the Six Triple Eight. Their names are Gwendolyn F. Johnson (1924 – 2017) and Louise Rita Bruce (1913 – 1996).

#SixTripleEight #WWII #VisitNatchez
 

Natchez Historical Society announces 2025 Annual Dinner

Matthew Skic will be the featured speaker at the Jan. 28 event

Registration and payment deadline is January 14

By Roscoe Barnes III

Special to The Natchez Democrat

Matthew Skic

NOTE: This program is part of a lecture series that is funded by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Matthew Skic, curator of exhibitions at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, will be the featured speaker at the 2025 Annual Dinner of the Natchez Historical Society. His topic for the evening is “Muskets Along the Mississippi: The Revolutionary War in the West.”

 
The dinner will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, January 28, at the Natchez Grand Hotel at 111 N. Broadway St. Reservation and payment deadline is January 14. Payment will not be accepted at the door. Registration and cash bar will begin at 5:30 p.m.
 
During the dinner, society officials will present Lance S. Harris, sites operation administrator for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, with the 2025 Historic Preservation Award.
 
Speaker’s topic
 
Daye Dearing, who chairs the program committee for the Natchez Historical Society, said Skic’s presentation will include compelling stories from the diverse people who experienced the Revolutionary War in the region. “His lecture will highlight the significance of Natchez and New Orleans and reflect upon the upcoming 250th anniversary of American independence,” she said.
Skic said he looks forward to returning to Natchez.
 
“As we approach the 250th anniversary of the beginning of the Revolutionary War, I am excited to come to Natchez to discuss crucial military campaigns along the Mississippi River and to show how the region was deeply involved in the war. This history is little known and often forgotten," he said.
 
Skic is a native of New Jersey. He studied at American University in Washington, DC, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in History. Skic earned his Master of Arts from the University of Delaware’s Winterthur Program in American Material Culture. His graduate thesis focused on Philadelphia's gunsmiths during the Revolutionary War.  
 
During his undergraduate, Skic completed two internships at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. He joined the curatorial team at the Museum of the American Revolution in 2016.
 
Skic has curated many award-winning exhibitions including “Hamilton Was Here: Rising Up in Revolutionary Philadelphia (2018-2019),” “Cost of Revolution: The Life and Death of an Irish Soldier (2019-2020),” and “Black Founders: The Forten Family of Philadelphia (2023).”
 
2025 Historic Preservation Award
 
In November, the Natchez Historical Society named Harris the winner of the 2025 Historic Preservation Award. He will be presented the award at the dinner.
 
Harris’ work as a professional and volunteer in Natchez has been notable, according to the leaders of the Natchez Historical Society. He has organized archaeological, genealogical and museum conferences. He has also participated in numerous panel discussions and given scores of presentations on Native American history, among other topics.
 
Harris holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he also completed an internship during graduate school assisting the reinterpretation of the American Indian basket collection at the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art.  He worked for the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Louisiana Department of State Museums, and the Hillard Art Museum before arriving in Natchez in 2015. 
 
In 2008, Harris won the Louisiana Association of Museums Newcomers Award and has recently served as the president of the Mississippi Museum Association and an accreditation peer reviewer for the American Alliance of Museums.
 
Harris has served on many committees helping volunteer groups throughout the local community. He has served on the boards of the Natchez Chamber of Commerce, Natchez Tricentennial Commission, Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning at Alcorn State, and the Natchez Literary & Cinema Celebration. 
 
Dinner details
 
Reservation and payment for the dinner may be made online at natchezhistoricalsociety.org or by mail at Natchez Historical Society, P. O. Box 49, Natchez, Miss. 39121. Please include names and phone numbers with checks.
 

Dinner is $39 per person (regular and vegetarian options available). Membership dues for 2025 also may be included: $20 per person or $35 per couple. For more information, call 281-731-4433 or 601-492-3004.

See more at https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/

Honoring those who served

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It was an honor to assist the  Home for Heroes Foundation with the annual Wreaths Across America campaign at the Natchez National Cemetery. Photo by Jackie Smith 

Wreaths Across America 2024 in Natchez

This image is from the front page of The Natchez Democrat (Sunday, December 15, 2024)

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Natchez's second Mississippi Freedom Trail marker featured on Delta News TV

 

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See the story at this link:

https://www.deltanews.tv/news/new-freedom-trail-marker/article_2116c0a6-b3fd-11ef-b498-ab4e2a63681a.html

'Natchez: From Past to Present'

 

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Screenshot from the short film, “Natchez: From Past to Present,” which premieres today, December 12, 2024, at the Visit Natchez at the Depot visitor center.

Natchez's second Freedom Trail marker is now posted

This image is from the front page of The Natchez Democrat (Friday, December 6, 2024)

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The Mississippi Freedom Trail markers are administered by Visit Mississippi and the Mississippi Humanities Council. The markers serve to commemorate the people and places in the state that played a pivotal role in the American Civil Rights Movement.