Stanley Nelson is winner of 2023 Historic Preservation Award

#VisitNatchez

#NatchezHistoricalSociety

Stanley Nelson
Author, “Devils Walking” and “Klan of Devils"

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Stanley Nelson, noted author and former newspaper editor, is the winner of the 2023 Historic Preservation Award presented by the Natchez Historical Society, announced NHS President Maria Bowser at a recent board meeting.

 
The award honors individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to historic preservation or the study of history within the Natchez area.
 
Nelson said he is honored to be the recipient of the award.
 
“To understand who we are, we need to know who we were,” Nelson said. “That’s what I’ve tried to communicate, and I think that is among the goals of the Natchez Historical Society.”
 
NHS will present the award to Nelson at its 2023 annual dinner at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Natchez Grand Hotel, 111 N. Broadway St.
 
“This recognition is well deserved,” said Bowser. “Mr. Nelson's work as an author and newspaper editor is well known -- and widely respected. His research on the civil rights movement in Natchez has contributed significantly to our understanding of what happened during that period in the 1960s.”
 
Bowser added: “The invaluable columns he wrote for the Concordia Sentinel were a treasure trove of information on the history of the area.”  
 
Nelson was the longtime editor of Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La. In 2011, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his local reporting to unravel a 1964 civil rights-era murder in Ferriday, as well as related unsolved murders.
 
Nelson now works with Professional-in-Residence Chris Drew on the Louisiana State University Manship School’s racial and criminal justice reporting programs.
 

Drawing on his work in community journalism, Nelson wrote two books on cold cases related to civil rights and the Ku Klux Klan in Louisiana and Mississippi. His first book, “Devils Walking: Klan Murders Along the Mississippi River in the 1960s” (2016, LSU Press), exposes the rise in Louisiana and Mississippi of an underground Klan terrorist cell known as the Silver Dollar Group whose members carried silver dollars as a sign of unity.
 
His latest book, “Klan of Devils: The Murder of a Black Louisiana Deputy Sheriff” (2021, LSU Press), details the Klan attack on two Black deputies in Washington Parish, Louisiana, in 1965, resulting in the death of Deputy Oneal Moore.
 
Greg Iles, New York Times bestselling author, is a fan and supporter of Nelson’s work. In addition to dedicating his book, “Natchez Burning,” to Nelson, whom he described as a “humble hero,” Iles also wrote the Foreword for “Devils Walking.”
 
“Stanley Nelson took up a group of civil rights cases so cold they could have chilled an industrial deep freeze and made them so hot that the FBI felt the burn,” Iles wrote. “That’s right – the chief law enforcement agency of the federal government had to scramble to play catch-up behind this one-man investigative juggernaut.”
 
Iles concluded: “Stanley Nelson raised his pen against the sword of hatred, and as a result, one bend of the Mississippi River looks a lot less dark than it once did. Stanley Nelson gives me hope for the South, and for America.”
 
Nelson’s work has been featured in national publications, online media outlets and documentaries. In February, he was featured in PBS Frontline’s “American Reckoning,” Season 2022 Episode 1, which aired Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022. The documentary focused on the 1967 killing of Natchez NAACP leader Wharlest Jackson Sr.

More Information on the 2023 Natchez Historical Society Annual Dinner

The Natchez Historical Society will hold its 2023 annual dinner at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Natchez Grand Hotel, 111 N. Broadway St. Registration and cash bar will begin at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. Reservations to attend the meeting must be made by Jan. 10. Danny Heitman, a nationally recognized writer on John James Audubon, will be the featured speaker. He will speak on the topic, “John James Audubon in Natchez: How a Fabled River Town Shaped His Life and Art.”

Reservations may be made in advance by mailing checks to: Natchez Historical Society, P. O. Box 49, Natchez, Miss. 39121, or by emailing: bowser2222@aol.com. Dinner is $35 per person. Membership dues for 2023 also may be included: $20 per person or $35 per couple. Please include names and phone numbers with checks. Heitman’s book, "A Summer of Birds - John James Audubon at Oakley House" (2008, LSU Press), will be available for sale at the event. Price is $23 (cash or checks, only).

Audubon author Danny Heitman to speak at 2023 annual dinner of Natchez Historical Society

#VisitNatchez

Danny Heitman
Author, "A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House" (LSU Press, 2008)

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Danny Heitman, a nationally recognized writer on John James Audubon, will be the featured speaker at the 2023 annual dinner meeting of the Natchez Historical Society. Heitman will speak on the topic, “John James Audubon in Natchez: How a Fabled River Town Shaped His Life and Art.”

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, at the Natchez Grand Hotel, 111 N. Broadway St. Registration and cash bar will begin at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. Reservations to attend the meeting must be made by Jan. 10.

The meeting will include a presentation of NHS’s Historic Preservation Award to a local person of outstanding and enduring achievement in preserving the history of the Natchez area.
 

“Audubon's 19th century odyssey in documenting American bird life depended on the Mississippi River, which allowed him to cover vast terrain in a relatively short time,” said Heitman. “Natchez was a memorable stop in that journey, full of adventure -- and at least one misadventure.”

Audubon is well known for his artistic work on the birds of North America, but there is little known about his time in Natchez, according to Alan Wolf, an NHS director. That will change during the dinner when “Audubon will be brought to life in Natchez,” he said.

Among other things, Heitman’s talk will show the vital role that Natchez played in Audubon’s work, Wolf said.

“Mr. Heitman tells us that Natchez was a significant point in Audubon’s depictions of bird life along the frontier of the Mississippi River, full of adventure, and at least one misadventure,” Wolf explained. “Among other insights into Audubon and Natchez, Mr. Heitman will describe how Natchez helped sustain Audubon’s history-making ornithological project - and, at one point, nearly upset it.”

Heitman, who lives in Baton Rouge, La., with his wife, Catherine, said he has made several visits to Natchez. However, his upcoming engagement will be his first visit as a speaker.

“I’m looking forward to visiting because of the great Mississippi writer Eudora Welty’s thoughts on Natchez and the river country, and the way the past informs the present, and how it gave me a way to think about Audubon and the book I wrote,” Heitman said.

Heitman is the author of "A Summer of Birds: John James Audubon at Oakley House" (LSU Press, 2008). A quote by Welty appears at the beginning of the book.

“A place that ever was lived in is like a fire that never goes out,” Welty wrote. “It flares up, it smolders for a time, it is fanned or smothered by circumstance, but its being is intact, forever fluttering within it, the result of some original ignition. Sometimes it gives out glory, sometimes its little light must be sought out to be seen, small and tender as a candle flame, but as certain.”

This quote, which Heitman calls “a preamble to my Audubon book,” was taken from the essay, “Some Notes on River Country,” which discusses the history of the Natchez area and surrounding river country.

Heitman is a veteran journalist whose work spans multiple decades. His writings have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. In addition to being an award-winning columnist for The Advocate newspaper in Louisiana, he is the editor of Phi Kappa Phi's Forum magazine. Heitman’s essays and book reviews have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and the Smithsonian, among other publications.

Heitman is a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Journalism. He graduated from California State University-Dominguez Hills with a master’s degree in Humanities. In 2014, he served as adjunct professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication at Louisiana State University.

More information:
 
Reservations to attend the dinner may be made in advance by mailing checks to: Natchez Historical Society, P. O. Box 49, Natchez, MS 39121, or by emailing: bowser2222@aol.com. Dinner is $35 per person. Membership dues for 2023 also may be included: $20 per person or $35 per couple. Please include names and phone numbers with checks.

NOTE: Heitman’s book,  "A Summer of Birds - John James Audubon at Oakley House" (2008, LSU Press), will be available for sale at the event. Price is $23 (cash or checks, only).

Fun day at NAPAC museum

I'm addressing a group of students from Ferriday Junior High School, Louisiana, during a tour of Natchez Museum of African American History & Culture on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Fun day!
 
#VisitNatchez #FerridayJuniorHigh #BlackHistory
 
For more information, visit: http://roscoereporting.blogspot.com/2022/12/ferriday-students-visit-napac-museum.html

 
 

Mississippi Humanities Council announces winners of the 2023 MHC Public Humanities Awards

Note: This official announcement by Mississippi Humanities Council can also be viewed here or by following this link: http://mshumanities.org/winners-of-the-2023-mhc-public-humanities-awards-announced

I must say that I'm happy to be listed among the winners.

-------------------------------------------

Jackson, Mississippi (December 14, 2022) —The Mississippi Humanities Council announced the winners of its 2023 Public Humanities Awards recognizing outstanding work in preserving and sharing Mississippi’s unique history and culture. The awards ceremony will be held March 24, 2023 at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. Tickets can be purchased at mshumanities.org.

Jeanne Luckett, a leader in public humanities in Mississippi for over 50 years, will receive the Cora Norman Award which recognizes lifetime achievement in the humanities. Luckett, a former Mississippi Humanities Council board chair, has worked on countless humanities projects over the years. She was very involved in the beginning years of Mississippi Educational Television (MPB today); Luckett developed the exhibits about Medgar and Myrlie Evers at the Evers House and the Jackson airport and coordinated the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Freedom Rides. She has developed exhibits for the 18th century LaPointe-Krebs House in Pascagoula and exhibits for the International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson. She has worked with the Eudora Welty Foundation for several years and is an active researcher and writer for the Mississippi Freedom Trail.

Also being honored for their outstanding contributions to Mississippi humanities:

Humanities Scholar Award– Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, associate professor of history at USM. Dr. Tuuri is the scholar for the Smithsonian exhibit “Voices & Votes: Democracy in America., currently traveling the state. She worked closely with all six host sites creating unique presentations for each. Dr. Tuuri is also a popular member of the MHC speaker’s bureau and serves on the scholars committee for both the Mississippi Freedom Trail and the More Perfect Union project.

Humanities Educator– Dr. Ebony Lumumba, associate professor of English and chair of the Department of English, Foreign Languages, & Speech Communication at Jackson State University.  This award recognizes Dr. Lumumba’s outstanding work leading the MHC’s book discussion program at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Dr. Lumumba has deeply engaged the men in the works of Mississippi writer Jesmyn Ward. Due to the success of her teaching, the prison book club program is now expanding to other facilities across the state.

Humanities Partner– Dr. Roscoe Barnes, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez.  Dr. Barnes has been a vital partner of the MHC, making connections with African American museums and community organizations in Natchez. At least six different MHC grants can be linked to

Barnes’ partnership. He has encouraged the Dr. John Banks House, the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum  and the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture to apply for MHC grants. Once those grants were awarded, he wrote press releases that have been widely carried in the media, always highlighting the impact of the MHC. Like the MHC, Roscoe is a behind-the-scenes connector whose partnership has greatly expanded the Council’s work in southwest Mississippi.

Reflecting Mississippi Award– Utica Institute Museum. The team at Hinds Community College-Utica has done an outstanding job of preserving and telling the story of William Holtzclaw and the Utica Institute, which was established in 1903 to educate rural Black Mississippians. The project has received two major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and multiple grants from the MHC to create the museum on campus, develop an exhibit about the Utica Jubilee Singers, and hold public humanities programs for their campus and Utica community.

Also, the MHC will recognize 30 recipients of the 2023 Humanities Teacher Awards, which pay tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of our state’s institutions of higher learning.

The Council invites everyone to join them at their 2023 Public Humanities Awards ceremony and reception March 24, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at the Two Mississippi Museums.

Tickets for the Mississippi Humanities Council Public Humanities Awards ceremony and reception are $50 each and may be purchased through the MHC website or by sending a check to the Mississippi Humanities Council, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Room 317, Jackson, MS 39211.

 For more information on Mississippi Humanities Council, visit: http://mshumanities.org

Miss-Lou Magazine: Roscoe Barnes III is winner of 2023 Humanities Partner Award

 #VisitNatchez

Roscoe Barnes III, the cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez, is one of several winners of the 2023 Public Humanities Awards presented by the Miss. Humanities Council. MHC selected Barnes for its 2023 Humanities Partner Award. The Council said, "Dr. Barnes has been a vital partner of the MHC, making connections with African American museums and community organizations in Natchez. At least six different MHC grants can be linked to Barnes’ partnership. He has encouraged the Dr. John Banks House, the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum and the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture to apply for MHC grants. Once those grants were awarded, he wrote press releases that have been widely carried in the media, always highlighting the impact of the MHC. Like the MHC, Roscoe is a behind-the-scenes connector whose partnership has greatly expanded the Council’s work in Southwest Mississippi.”

ListenUpYall.com: Visit Natchez’s Roscoe Barnes III is winner of 2023 Humanities Partner Award

/ ListenUpYall.com
Emily Williams
Dec 16, 2022 | 2:06 PM

#VisitNatchez

Roscoe Barnes III, PhD
Cultural Heritage Tourism Manager
Visit Natchez

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez, is one of several winners of the 2023 Public Humanities Awards presented by the Mississippi Humanities Council. MHC selected Barnes for its 2023 Humanities Partner Award.

The award recognizes a person or organization that has collaborated with the Council to broaden its scope and reach new audiences. It includes recognition of “outstanding work in preserving and sharing Mississippi’s unique history and culture,” according to an MHC press release.

Roscoe Barnes III

“This is truly a wonderful surprise,” said Barnes. “The news actually caused me to tear up. I am both humbled and honored by this recognition, and I’m grateful to Dr. Stuart Rockoff and the entire staff of the Mississippi Humanities Council.”

Barnes said his work is possible because of the support of the Visit Natchez team and their partners in the Natchez community.

In a letter to Barnes dated Dec. 7., MHC Executive Director Stuart Rockoff said the honor was well deserved.

“Over the past few years, you have been a vital partner for the MHC, helping us reach new organizations in Natchez and support many efforts to preserve Natchez’s African American history,” Rockoff wrote. “You were also a vital link in our bringing humanities courses to the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.”

At least six different MHC grants can be linked to Barnes’ partnership, according to MHC. Among other things, Barnes encouraged the Dr. John Banks House, the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum, and the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture to apply for MHC grants, MHC reported.

MHC noted: “Once those grants were awarded, he wrote press releases that have been widely carried in the media, always highlighting the impact of the MHC. Like the MHC, Barnes is a behind-the-scenes connector whose partnership has greatly expanded the Council’s work in southwest Mississippi.”

The public is invited to the 2023 Public Humanities Awards ceremony and reception at 5:30 p.m., Friday, March 24, 2023, at the Two Mississippi Museums. Tickets are $50 each and may be purchased through the MHC website or by sending a check to the Mississippi Humanities Council, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Room 317, Jackson, MS 239211.

For more information, visit http://mshumanities.org/winners-of-the-2023-mhc-public-humanities-awards-announced

VIDEO: Report on Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Design

#VisitNatchez

The Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument is being designed by Thomas J. Warren of Warren Sculpture Studios Inc., Rogue River, OR.

Natchez Board of Aldermen Meeting on Dec. 13, 2022

In this report on the design of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Project, Robert Pernell and Lance Harris discuss the design that was selected by the Natchez community and the estimated cost of the project. Pernell is the chairman of the Natchez USCT Monument Committee, and Harris is the chairman of the Monument Design Subcommittee.
 

See video of the report by visiting this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXQ9g2gg0OI

Ferriday students visit NAPAC museum

#VisitNatchez

Students at Ferriday Junior High School recently toured the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. From left are Jamyra Smith, student; Jessica Warner, Quest for Success instructor; and Myeshia Moore, Jobs for American Graduates specialist. Bobby Dennis, the museum’s executive director, led the tour which concluded with a brief presentation on “Finding Self-Awareness in History.”

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Twenty-five students from Ferriday Junior High School recently toured the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. Their venture, which was organized by Jessica Warner, Quest for Success instructor, and Myeshia Moore, Jobs for American Graduates specialist, was led by Bobby Dennis, the museum’s executive director.

 
“This is the first group I’ve had from Ferriday Junior High School,” said Dennis. “Over the years, I’ve had groups of students from Natchez and from as far away as Jackson. We really enjoyed our time together. It was a great opportunity for them to learn about history that is often neglected.”

“The tour was very informative,” said Moore. She noted it was an “eye opener” for the students.

“Some of them had never visited Natchez,” she said. “This was a great opportunity for them to get to know about African American history and their culture. They loved how they were able to see real artifacts in the museum.”

Overall, Moore said, it was a great experience for them.

The students arrived at the museum around 9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 8. They spent an hour learning about African American history in Natchez. In addition to watching a 15-minute video on African Americans in Mississippi, the students carefully examined historical artifacts and displays throughout the museum. Throughout the tour, they asked questions about various items, according to Dennis.

The tour ended with a presentation by Dennis on “Finding Self-Awareness in History.”

Bobby Dennis, executive director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, speaks to students of Ferriday Junior High School.

Dennis said the tour was delightful.

“I always like to have young people in here,” he said. “They’re my favorite group because I learn something every time they come in here.”

Although several things caught the student’s attention, it was the military exhibits, particularly the display of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops that generated the most interest.

“They were fascinated by this,” Dennis said. “These are things they’re not exposed to often enough. There were quite a few comments on an aviation training kit, a pilot kit similar to one used by the Red Tails.”

“Red Tails” was the name given to Tuskegee Airmen because of the painted tails of their fighter planes.

Warner, one of the teachers, inquired about the history of Nellie Jackson and the Rhythm Night Club fire of 1940 that left over 200 people dead, including Walter Barnes and members of his band.

The Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture is operated by NAPAC, which stands for Natchez Association for the Preservation of African American Culture. For this reason, it is commonly referred to as NAPAC museum.

Students of Ferriday Junior High School visiting the Natchez Museum of African American History Culture.

Opinion: Researching the Stories of Natchez

Essay by Bobby L. Dennis, executive director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture

#VisitNatchez

This essay appeared in the Dec. 2, 2022 issue of The Natchez Democrat (Natchez, Miss.)

Top of the Morning

Researching the stories of Natchez

 

By Bobby L. Dennis

 
Since re-opening the Natchez Museum of African American Culture after the easing of Covid 19, the interest in the contributions of the African American society that helped establish and shape this community have grown tremendously.
 
With the help of Visit Natchez, and through a grant provided by Mississippi Humanities Council, the museum has been able to extend its reach through advertising, educational programing, and exhibits that depict the culture of African Americans through their role in the development of Natchez as freemen, slave and freedmen. Through our work with the Natchez Historical Society, the National Park Service, and most importantly, the local citizens, our community has enabled us to give a more complete story of the important role the African American has played in the development of our city.
 
Being able to see the benefits of our work to preserve the sacrifices and contributions of African Americans in the development of Natchez is becoming more prevalent. The exposure of our website (www.visitnapac.net), along with video interviews in relevant venues, has begun to give measurable data that informs us of our contributions to the Natchez community and tourism through the distribution of stories of the life of people of slavery, reconstruction, civil rights, and today.
 
Over the past six months I have fielded calls from researchers, descendants, and inquisitive readers, seeking information on African American families from colonization through civil rights. Over half of these callers have scheduled or are planning to visit our city to experience and learn more of what they have read or heard. One of the callers was Rukhsane Khan, a children’s book writer and storyteller from Toronto Canada. She and her son, Ismall Alli, have just completed a week’s stay here researching and putting the final touches to her new book on Abdul Rahman Ibrahima. Ibrahima was the African prince who was captured and sold to slave traders and later taken to the United States in 1788. He spent nearly 40 years as a slave in the Natchez area.
 
To have an internationally acclaimed author visit Natchez and the museum seeking the people side of the Ibrahima story speaks volumes of what we have to offer visitors from all countries.
 
Natchez, being the oldest settlement on the Mississippi, developed primarily through the French, English, and Spanish cultures. When people talk about this history, they sometimes forget to mention the African culture that was brought along with them. Those that came of free will, as well as those that were taken and enslaved, with each having skills and talents which have contributed to the building of this city. We, here at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, are proud to be preservers of their stories, letting our visitors see us through the eyes of those people who lived it. Horrors, sacrifices, accomplishments, are all a part of the stories but through it all we show relationships being built to continue to carry this community forward.
 
Today is tomorrow’s history, and we write it as we want it told.
 
------------
 
Bobby L. Dennis is the executive director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture.
 

MS Humanities Council: MHC Grant Will Help Highlight Cultural History of Natchez’s ‘Black Wall Street’

Pictured above is Rasberry Grocery Store: Doris Rasberry, right, with customers inside Quality Grocery and Market on St. Catherine Street. This business is one of many that will be featured in the St. Catherine Street history project, “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today.” Doris and her husband, Robert, opened the store at 158-160 St. Catherine St. at the end of World War II. For almost 40 years, it served the residents of the St. Catherine area. Photo courtesy of Rasberry Collection, Historic Natchez Foundation.

Editor's Note: I was happy to see this news reported in the Mississippi Humanities Council Newsletter - November 2022.

-----------

The Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded a project grant to the staff of the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum for a project that highlights the cultural history of St. Catherine Street.

The project is titled “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today” and will use tours, photographs, oral history, and a brochure to share the rare and untold history of the people, buildings, culture, and businesses on the street from as far back as the 1930s, according to Project Director Thelma Newsome.

“Some people view St. Catherine as a mini version of ‘Black Wall Street’ of Tulsa, Oklahoma, because of its thriving black businesses and cultural development in the past,” said Newsome. “The small business is what helped to carry the people along all these many years. They were especially vital in a time of heightened racism and discrimination.”

Newsome, a lifelong resident of St. Catherine, said the street once boasted of thriving businesses that included barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, drycleaners, service stations, shoe repair shop, and beauty shops.

Although many of those businesses are gone, they had stories that need to be told about their existence and the impact they had on the community, Newsome said.

“This is a project whose time has come,” said Dora P. Hawkins, one of the organizers. “The Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum staff is elated to introduce St. Catherine Street, Natchez, to the world and to reintroduce the street to Natchez. In our research, we are finding so many interesting facts about this street and, it appears, we are only at the tip of what’s available.”

The tour experience will begin at Forks of the Road and end at the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum.

USM’s Max Grivno to discuss Hernando De Soto at November 22 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

Dr. Max Grivno
University of Southern Mississippi

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Max Grivno, faculty member of University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, will talk about Spanish explorer Hernando De Soto at the November meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.

Grivno’s presentation is titled, "Hernando De Soto and the First European Contact with the Mississippi Civilization of the Lower Mississippi Valley." It will be given at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022, at Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce St. The program will follow a social time set for 6:30 p.m.

Grivno said he is happy to be speaking again before the NHS.

“The lecture covers an important, but often overlooked, period in the region's history,” he said. “It shows not only the devastation caused by De Soto's raid in the southeast, but also considers how Native people built new societies in its aftermath."

Grivno is an associate professor at USM. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Maryland-College Park, where he also earned his master’s degree. Grivno completed his bachelor’s degree at St. Olaf College.

Grivno is the author of Gleanings of Freedom: Free and Slave Labor along the Mason-Dixon Line, 1790-1860 (University of Illinois Press, 2011); and Historic Resource Study, Ferry Hill Plantation (Forgotten Books, 2017). In addition to Mississippi History, his expertise is in Antebellum South, Slavery, Economic and Labor History.

For more information, visit http://natchezhistoricalsociety.org/67001.html.

 

Mississippi Humanities Council awards $5,000 grant for St. Catherine Street history project

/ ListenUpYall.com

Staff Report

Oct 27, 2022 | 9:27 AM

Brumfield School, built in 1925, is one of many sites that will be featured in the St. Catherine Street history project. This historic photo shows band director Woodrick McGuire and his band at the school at 100 St. Catherine St. He later died in the Rhythm Night Club fire in 1940, according to Historic Natchez Foundation. Photo courtesy of Historic Natchez Foundation

NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded a $5,000 grant to the staff of the Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum for a project that highlights the cultural history of St. Catherine Street.

The project is titled “St. Catherine Street, Natchez, MS: Yesteryear through Today.” It will use tours, photographs, oral history, and a brochure to share the rare and untold history of the people, buildings, culture, and businesses on the street from as far back as the 1930s, according to Project Director Thelma Newsome.
 
“Some people view St. Catherine as a mini version of ‘Black Wall Street’ of Tulsa, Okla., because of its thriving black businesses and cultural development in the past,” said Newsome. “The small business is what helped to carry the people along all these many years. They were especially vital in a time of heightened racism and discrimination.”
 
Newsome, a lifelong resident of St. Catherine, said the street once boasted of thriving businesses that included barbershops, restaurants, grocery stores, laundromats, drycleaners, service stations, shoe repair shop, and beauty shops.
 
Although many of those businesses are gone, they had stories that need to be told about their existence and the impact they had on the community, Newsome said.
 
“This is a project whose time has come,” said Dora P. Hawkins, one of the organizers. “The Dr. John Bowman Banks Museum staff is elated to introduce St. Catherine Street, Natchez, Miss., to the world and to reintroduce the street to Natchez. In our research, we are finding so many interesting facts about this street and, it appears, we are only at the tip of what’s available.”
 
Organizers hope to launch the project in November or December. The tour experience will begin at Forks of the Road and end at the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum.
 
The project is a joint effort by the museum staff and other volunteers, all of whom are members of the St. Catherine Street Committee. In addition to Newsome and Hawkins, committee members include Jacqulyn Williams, Teresa Farley, Teresa Busby, Roscoe Barnes III, Robert Pernell, Mark LaFrancis, and Leon Hollins III.
 
“This is rewarding work for us,” said Hawkins. “We appreciate the tremendous assistance that Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, Mrs. Mimi Miller and the Natchez Historic Foundation have provided in our efforts. In addition, we could not accomplish our mission without the Mississippi Humanities Council’s approval of our grant request.”
 
Barnes, who serves as the cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez, said it has been an honor to work with Newsome, Hawkins, and the other committee members, and to see firsthand the fruit of their hard work.
 
“This is another important milestone for this community and the city of Natchez,” he said. “We’re all making history in more ways than one, and it’s all possible because of the significant contributions of a great committee and Mississippi Humanities Council.”
 
Barnes noted that he and Visit Natchez were also happy to assist the committee with the grant application.
 

#VisitNatchez 

Frances Alexander Earns Doctorate from University of Southern Mississippi

Graduation is set for December 8

#SouthernUniversity

Frances Alexander, Ed.D.

WOODVILLE, Miss. – Frances Alexander, former principal of Wilkinson County Elementary School, recently earned her Doctor of Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg.
 

“I am excited that I was able to persevere and complete the doctoral program in Educational Administration,” said Alexander. It was her family, she noted, that encouraged her to pursue her terminal degree.
 
USM conferred her degree in July. Her graduation is set for December 8 in Hattiesburg.
 
For Alexander, a resident of Woodville, this achievement was a dream come true – something she’s wanted for many years. Now it’s a reality, she said, and she’s ready to move forward into the next chapter of her career.
 
Alexander’s doctoral studies culminated in a capstone project titled, “The Impact of Family Engagement in Elementary Schools Turnaround Initiatives.” Her research shows that “positive family engagement influences students' attendance, behavior, and academic outcomes,” Alexander said. “I recommend further research using a mixed method design where data can be analyzed for a minimum of three years to determine if family engagement influences the school's turnaround initiative.”
 
The academic work was both rigorous and enjoyable for Alexander. “At times I was challenged because I had not taken college courses in nearly 20 years,” she said. “However, I feel that the rigor was appropriate for doctoral level courses.”
 
Alexander viewed the process as a catalyst for personal and professional growth, as well as an opportunity to make a contribution in her field of study.
 
"Learning new things, reading the findings from other researchers, and conducting my own research study was like watching a flower bloom in slow motion,” she said. “I also enjoyed meeting and networking with scholars from across the United States.”
 
Alexander's career in education included 15 years as an administrator and 11 years as a teacher.
 
She served five years as the principal of Cohn Elementary School in West Baton Rouge Parish. Prior to that position, she worked as the school’s assistant principal. From 2013 to 2016, she worked as the education supervisor for Management and Training Corporation, serving at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility.
 
Alexander holds a Bachelor of Arts in English and Literature from Southern University, Baton Rouge, La. She earned her Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration at Southern University and Agricultural and Mechanical College at Baton Rouge.
 
In addition to her work in education, Alexander remains active as a volunteer in her community. She is past president of the Woodville/Wilkinson County Main Street Association. She is also an exhibit interpreter at the African American Museum and secretary for the Wilkinson County Library System.

#SouthernUniversity #WeAreSouthern #FinishStronger #HBCU #SouthernMiss

Dr. Stuart Rockoff to speak at Oct. 25 meeting of Natchez Historical Society

He will talk about Jewish history in Natchez and other parts of Mississippi

Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director
Mississippi Humanities Council

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Dr. Stuart Rockoff, the executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, will talk about the Jewish history of Mississippi at the Oct. 25 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society.
 
“I look forward to exploring the fascinating story of how Jews found a home in Mississippi, putting down roots and building institutions that made their communities more diverse,” Rockoff said.
 
In his presentation, “Shalom Y’all: The Jewish History of Mississippi,” Rockoff will outline Jewish contributions to the historical, economical, and social legacy of Natchez, the region -- and the state, according to NHS member Mike Gemmell.
 
“In the early 19th century, Jewish immigrants began arriving in the Lower Mississippi River Valley and many settled in towns along the river, such as Natchez, Port Gibson and Woodville,” Gemmell noted in a press statement.
 
Rockoff’s research on the Jewish community is not only substantial, but well known. The Texas native holds a B.A. in History from Wesleyan University. He completed his M.A. and Ph.D. in American History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he specialized in immigration, race, and American Jewish history.
 
Rockoff served for more than a decade as the Director of the History Department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss., where he was responsible for creating the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities.
 
In addition to giving lectures on the history of Jews in the American South, Rockoff has written widely on the topic.
 
Rockoff’s lecture in Natchez will take place at 7 p.m. at the Historic Natchez Foundation, 108 S. Commerce St. Social time will start at 6:30 p.m.
 
The meeting is free and open to the public.
 
For more information visit: www.natchezhistoricalsociety.org and on Facebook.
 

The Natchez Democrat: Blues expert plans talk Oct. 8 at Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture

Published 4:43 pm Tuesday, September 20, 2022

By Staff Reports

Scott Barretta
Blues Historian

By ROSCOE BARNES

Special to The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ – Blues historian Scott Barretta is coming to Natchez to talk about the blues. 

Specifically, he will talk about the key people in the city’s blues history in a presentation at 1 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, at the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture.

The free event is a “Coffee and Culture” initiative that is sponsored by the Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture & Learning at Alcorn State University, according to Teresa A. Busby, the center’s executive director.

Barrett’s talk, “Natchez’s Rich Blues Tradition,” will focus on musicians, including Papa George Lightfoot, Scott Dunbar, Hezekiah Early and the Ealey brothers, as well as songs about the Rhythm Club fire of1940.

Walter Barnes, the musician who died in the 1940 fire that killed more than 200 people, will also be mentioned, according to Barretta. The legacy of the fire, Barretta said, “was particularly important in terms of the songs that were written in the wake of that terrible tragedy.”

Barretta noted “Barnes himself was very interesting beyond his musicianship, as he was one of the leading journalists for African American entertainment at the time.”

Note: Online version of this story can be viewed on 

The Natchez Democrat website. See it here. 

Barretta is a resident of Greenwood. He is widely known as the host the MPB radio show “Highway 61.” In addition to being a writer and researcher for the Mississippi Blues Trail, he teaches sociology courses about music at the University of Mississippi.

The music connoisseur said he looks forward to a return visit to Natchez, which he first visited in 1999 when he came to Mississippi to edit Living Blues magazine.

“I spent the most time there in 2009-10 when I conducted oral histories of local musicians, including Hezekiah Early and YZ Ealey, for the Mississippi Arts Commission and then wrote up articles on many of the artists for a special Natchez issue of Living Blues,” he said.

Barretta said he helped write and research multiple Mississippi Blues Trail markers in the Natchez area.  “I’m really looking forward to speaking about the artists there, particularly as I’ve never presented these stories in Natchez,” he said.

Speaking of Natchez, Barretta said nothing is as dramatic in Mississippi’s landscape as the bluffs.

“I love how integrated the river is into the cityscape,” he said. “I timed my visit so I could go to the Blues and Soul Super Bowl there. Otherwise, as a historian, I enjoy the fact that so much of Natchez’s long history is evident, and that in recent years there’s been so much attention to the legacy of its African American residents.”

Although much, undoubtedly, will be gained by the presentation, Barretta said, there is one thing about his topic that he hopes the public will grasp: “That Natchez has a rich and distinctive history that mirrors the exceptional nature of the city.”

Lolly Rash to Speak at September Meeting of Natchez Historical Society

She will talk about ‘endangered places’ in Mississippi – and how they can be saved

Lolly Rash, Executive Director
Mississippi Heritage Trust

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Lolly Rash, executive director of the Mississippi Heritage Trust, will be the featured speaker at the September meeting of the Natchez Historical Society. Rash will talk about endangered historical places in Mississippi.

 
The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 27, at the Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce St.
 
Rash’s presentation is titled, “Please Don’t Tear It Down - 22 Years of the 10 Most Endangered Historical Places in Mississippi.”
 
According to Alan Wolf, an NHS trustee, Rash has been fighting for Mississippi’s historic treasures for 23 years. She has worked in her current position since 2013.
 
“Since the Mississippi Heritage Trust published the first list of the ‘10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi’ in 1999, there have been tremendous preservation victories,” Wolf wrote in a recent column in The Natchez Democrat.
 
Wolf listed several places that have been saved: The Cutrer Mansion in Clarksdale, the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, and the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Center in Ocean Springs, among others.
 
“They, and the numerous similar ‘saves’ here in Natchez, offer inspiring examples of what can happen when communities come together with a vision of the future and a spirit of cooperation,” Wolf wrote. “Ms. Rash will share stories of endangered places saved, yet to be saved, and lost, and as well discuss the Heritage Trust’s current projects throughout Mississippi.”
 
For more information, send email to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org.
 

Concord Quarters to host walking tours of archeological research sites

Public invited to witness installation of interpretive panels
 

Students at the Mississippi State University Archaeological Field School conducted research in June 2022 on the grounds of Concord Quarters.

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Interpretive panels displaying the work of 13 Mississippi State University Archaeological Field School students will be installed during a special program from 10 a.m. to noon Sunday, September 25, at Concord Quarters, announced Debbie Cosey, who co-owns the Concord Quarters Bed and Breakfast with her husband, Gregory Cosey.

Debbie said the event will include a walking tour that will feature critical points throughout the property, which is located at 301 Gayoso St. Specifically, the tour will focus on the excavation sites that revealed the location of the “Big House” or mansion, a kitchen, cistern, and smoke house, among other things.

Concord Quarters is an original free-standing slave quarters built in the 1820s. At one time, the property where it resides was home to three primary buildings, which included a mansion that was built by Natchez Spanish Manuel Gayoso in the 1700s. However, the mansion burned down in 1901, and today, only the slave quarters remain.

Archeological research was conducted on the property in June under the supervision of Dr. Shawn Lambert, professor of Anthropology at Mississippi State University. He and Jessica Crawford, director of the Southeast Division of the Archaeological Conservancy, will be the special guests at Sunday’s installation.

“We are officially an archaeological site, and we now know where various structures and other important things were located,” said Debbie, who noted she was excited about the archaeological dig and the research conducted by the students. It is because of their findings that the panels were created, she said.

“Thanks to them, we now know more about this property,” Debbie said. “We’re free-standing here. We’re all that’s left to interpret this significant history. We now know what we didn’t know before.”

Sunday’s event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, call 601-493-3018 or send email to concordquarters@gmail.com.

The Natchez Democrat: Community meeting with chosen designer of U.S. Colored Troops monument set for Oct. 4

#VisitNatchez
#NatchezUSCT

Alcorn State University’s Southwest Mississippi Center for Culture and Learning observed Black History Month with members of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Committee. Presenters included, from left, Robert Pernell, chairman of the Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Committee; Teresa Busby, executive director of Southwest MS Center for Culture and Learning; Mayor Dan Gibson; Barney Schoby, U.S. Park Ranger and graduate of ASU; and Deborah Fountain, a genealogist and researcher who chairs the History and Research Subcommittee for the Natchez USCT Monument Committee. Fountain is pictured on the screen in the background.

By ROSCOE BARNES

Special to The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ – The Natchez U.S. Colored Troops Monument Committee will host a public meeting to discuss the design of its proposed USCT monument at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, at the Natchez Convention Center at 211 Main St.
 
Thomas J. Warren of Warren Studios Inc., who was approved in August as the designer for the monument, will be present to talk about the project and receive questions and comments from the public, according to Committee Chairman Robert Pernell.
 
“As we have said from the beginning, we want to be transparent, but even more, we want to hear from the public,” Pernell said. “We have reached an important milestone with this project, but we still have a ways to go.”
 
Pernell said it is important for the community to be informed, and because it is a community endeavor, the project needs community support, he said.
 
The monument will honor more than 3,000 African American men who served at Fort McPherson during the Civil War. It will be located on the Natchez Bluff, at the corner of Madison and Broadway streets, contingent upon approval of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Natchez Preservation Commission.
 
Warren, who is based in Oregon, is a native of Rolling Fork. He was selected to create a conceptual and schematic design for the monument, said Lance Harris, chairman of the Monument Design Subcommittee.
 
“At the end of the project, we will have a conceptual design and schematic design, as well as cost estimation that can be used for fundraising efforts as we get ready for the next phase,” Harris said.

Warren has 36 years of experience working on sculptures and monument designs. A graduate of Mississippi College, he has created 53 public art works in 20 states and Canada. His past works have included monuments of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, John Lewis, among other historic figures.
 
For more information on the Natchez USCT Monument Project, visit NatchezUSCTMonument.com. The works of Warren Studios can be viewed at warrensculpture.com.