Event set for Silver Street near Mississippi River landing dock
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| Shelia Byrd is the deputy director of the Programs and Communication Division of Mississippi Department of Archives and History and a former Associated Press journalist. (Click on image to enlarge.) |
NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Shelia Byrd, the deputy director of the Programs and Communication Division of Mississippi Department of Archives and History, will serve as guest speaker at a marker dedication ceremony honoring Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima (1762-1829).
The ceremony will be held at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 8, 2026, at Under-the-Hill on Silver Street near the Mississippi River landing dock. It is free and open to the public. This second marker complements one dedicated in October 2025 near Historic Jefferson College.
Byrd is a former Associated Press journalist who covered civil rights, politics and education.
"It is an honor to be included in a ceremony highlighting Prince Ibrahima, whose story is one of millions woven into Mississippi's history. His story ends in freedom, but only after enslavement, struggle, and loss," Byrd said. "It is fitting the marker unveiling comes while the country is marking the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence."
Byrd was an AP journalist for 17 years, covering stories that included the trial of Klansman Edgar Ray Killen for the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. She also wrote about the FBI's reopening of the Emmett Till murder case. Prior to MDAH, Byrd was the communications director at Mississippi Public Broadcasting, managing editor at the General Motors Story Bureau, and vice president for communications at Hope Enterprise Corporation.
A graduate of Grambling State University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, Byrd is a multiple Lantern and Prism award winner, recognized for excellence in writing and integrated communications.
Natchez history
Mayor Dan Gibson said he is looking forward to the ceremony as a meaningful part of Natchez’s history.
“This ceremony is an important step in recognizing and telling the full story of Natchez,” Gibson said. “Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima’s journey is both powerful and sobering, and it deserves to be remembered and shared for generations to come. We are proud to commemorate his legacy here in Natchez.”
Lynsey Gilbert, interim director of Visit Natchez, said the ceremony is a celebration of Natchez’s history and a recognition of difficult truths in the nation’s past.
“We value the life history of Prince Ibrahima, and we’re excited to honor him with a new historical marker,” she said. “This marker will commemorate his arrival in Natchez as an enslaved man in 1788 and his departure with his freedom on April 8, 1828.”
The ceremony date was chosen to mark the anniversary of his departure in 1828.
Gilbert said the selected location is ideal for the marker. The area is visited by thousands of people each year, including those who travel on the Mississippi River cruise ships, she said.
The site for the marker was approved by property owner Denton Biglane, who said the marker “will be a much-needed and overdue addition to Natchez and Under-the-Hill.”
Program lineup
In addition to Byrd and Gibson, the program will feature Vickie R. Green, playwright and CEO of Behind the Walls Ministries, as the mistress of ceremonies. The Rev. Dr. Joan Gandy, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Natchez, will offer the invocation, and the Rev. Clifton Marvel Sr., pastor of Greater Macedonia Baptist Church, will offer the benediction.
Tony Fields, soloist and minister of music at Zion Chapel A.M.E. Church, will provide special musical selections for the program. Gibson will deliver the opening remarks, followed by Roscoe Barnes III of Visit Natchez, who will recognize the guests and introduce the guest speaker. Remarks also will be shared by David Dreyer, local historian and genealogist.
Natchez High School students Ainsley Dupre and Halle Stamps will present excerpts from Dr. Terry Alford’s book, “Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South” (Oxford University Press, 1977).
Ibrahima was a Muslim prince from Timbo in the Futa Jallon region of present-day Guinea, West Africa. He was captured in battle in 1788 and sold into the transatlantic slave trade. He spent 40 years enslaved on Thomas Foster’s plantation near Natchez before gaining his freedom in 1828 with the help of Andrew Marschalk, the “Father of Mississippi Journalism,” and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Clay in President John Quincy Adams’ administration.
See more at this link: https://www.themississippimonitor.com/mdahs-shelia-byrd-to-speak-at-prince-ibrahima-marker-ceremony-april-8-event-set-for-silver-street-near-mississippi-river-landing-dock/
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