'Lafayette Returns to Natchez after 200 Years'

Celebration set for Saturday, April 19 at Historic Natchez Foundation

Brother Rogers, historian at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and secretary-treasurer for the Mississippi Historical Society, is one of several people who will speak about Lafayette's return to Natchez on April 19.

200th anniversary of Lafayette’s return to Natchez

 A special program celebrating the 200th anniversary of Frenchman Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Natchez will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 19, at the Historic Natchez Foundation at 108 S. Commerce Street. It is free and open to the public.
 
The program is titled, “Lafayette Returns to Natchez after 200 Years.” It is sponsored by the American Friends of Lafayette, the Natchez Historical Society, the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Historic Natchez Foundation.
Lafayette played a crucial role in the nation’s victory in the American Revolution.
 
The program will feature presentations by actor Ben Goldman, historian Brother Rogers, and electric guitarist Tyler Diaz. Other participants include Chuck Schwam, executive director of the American Friends of Lafayette and Alan Hoffman, president of the AFL.
 
For more information and to register, visit https://friendsoflafayette.wildapricot.org/event-6138817

Marquis de Lafayette played a crucial role in our victory in the American Revolution.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

(Click on image to enlarge.)

We're pleased to be cited by Snopes.com

My friend and colleague Mallory Lancaster Meng and I are cited in this article by Snopes. We are grateful to Mimi Miller and the Historic Natchez Foundation for their important contributions to this research.

View the article at this link:
https://www.snopes.com/articles/469550/civil-war-slaves-concentration-refugee-camp/
 

Natchez Powwow slated for weekend of March 29 and 30

By Roscoe Barnes III
Natchez, MS, USA / ListenUpYall.com
Mar 13, 2025 | 12:23 PM

Natchez's David Kelley, and his wife, Dr. Kelsey Kelley, prepare for the Natchez Powwow held in March 2024. The Kelleys are members of the Osage Nation. They said they look forward to the powwow set for March 29 and 30 on the Bluff. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. --- The 2025 Natchez Powwow will be a weekend of Native American culture brimming with great music, food, and exciting entertainment on the Natchez Bluff, said Natchez Powwow Chairman Dr. Chuck Borum.
 
The event is set for Saturday and Sunday, March 29 and 30, at 319 N. Broadway Street.
 
“We will have people coming in from all across Mississippi, Oklahoma, and many other states,” Borum said. “Everybody, including local residents and visitors, look forward to this annual tradition where they can have great family entertainment while learning and participating in Native American culture.”
 
The Natchez Powwow is a celebration of Native American culture. It was started by Borum in 1988. The event is free and open to the public. Food, including Native American arts and crafts, t-shirts, and other items, will be available for purchase throughout the weekend.
 
The powwow typically includes Native American dance, traditional songs that are hundreds of years old, and the thunderous sound of drums being played by 20 men, said Borum.
 
The tribal regalia is colorful and eye-catching, and the dancing holds the audience’s attention, Borum said. Even more, he added, the participants often engage the audience by inviting them to join them in some of the dances.
 
During the 2024 Natchez Powwow, Mayor Dan Gibson presented Borum with a Certificate of Appreciation. Gibson, on behalf of the City of Natchez, said Borum was being honored for his “many years of passionate and unwavering leadership and support for this great event which means so much to our city.”
 
“We’re so grateful to Dr. Chuck Borum for bringing this event to life now 36 years ago,” Gibson said. “It is such a great event for Natchez, but it’s such a great event for Mississippi and for the whole region and for our whole country.”
 
Gibson said it is important that the history of the Native Americans – and how they were treated -- not be forgotten. “And we must today forever be grateful that we now can come together as one … to celebrate the Natchez Powwow,” he said.
 
Natchez’s David Kelley and his family are members of the Osage Nation. Kelley said he and his family are looking forward to this year’s powwow. “It seems that everyone is starting to acclimate to the new location on the bluff,” he said. “We have experienced a growing attendance over the last couple years. So, we look to have an awesome powwow weekend full of great singing and dancing.”
 
Powwow event schedule
 
This year’s program will feature Frank Carson, Otoe-Pawnee of Stillwater, Oklahoma, as the Master of Ceremonies.
 
Other participants will include Darsh DeSilva of Round Rock, Texas, as the Arena Director; George Valliere, Shawnee-Quapaw-Cherokee of Claremore, Oklahoma, as Head Singer Southern Drum; Andrew Idalski, Otoe Missouria of Lucas, Texas, as Head Man Dancer; Emily Smith, Ponca, of Ponca City, Oklahoma, as Head Lady Dancer; and Ronald Scheuermann, Gulf Coast Tia Piah of Marrero, Louisiana, as Head Gourd Dancer.
 
Saturday March 29, 2025
 
9 a.m. -- Food and Craft and Farmer Market Vendors open
1 p.m. -- Gourd Dance
2:30 p.m. -- Grand Entry and Intertribal Dancing
4 p.m. -- Camp Feed for Singers and Dancers and family/friends
6 p.m. -- Gourd Dance
7 p.m. -- Grand Entry and Intertribal Dancing
9 p.m. – Closing
 
Sunday March 30, 2025
 
9 a.m. -- Food and Craft  Vendors open
1 p.m. -- Gourd Dance
2:30 p.m. -- Grand Entry and Intertribal Dancing

Spectators bring your lawn chairs

Borum said alcoholic beverages will not be allowed in the powwow area or in the areas used by the traders and food vendors. Although some people may choose to stand for certain parts of the day’s event, those attending are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs, he said. The dancers may use the benches that surround the powwow area.
 
According to the Natchez Powwow website, a traditional camp feed will be provided at 5 p.m. Saturday for the participants in the powwow, which include all of the singers, head staff, dancers, friends and family. This meal will be prepared by the Atkins and Tsosie family in memory of Vernon Atkins and other friends and family who have died.
 
As in previous years, outdoor camping will not be available at the powwow site on the Bluff. However, camping in tents, campers, and RVs will be available at the River View RV Park at 100 River View Parkway, Vidalia.
 
For more information, visit https://www.natchezpowwow.com, or send email to Powwow Chairman Dr. Chuck Borum at cborum@hotmail.com.
 
See more at this link: https://listenupyall.com/2025/03/13/natchez-powwow-slated-for-weekend-of-march-29-and-30/
 
 

Dr. Michael V. Williams speaks at Mississippi event honoring late civil rights leader Charles Evers

The Chronicle News Chronicle
March 6, 2025

Dr. Michael V. Williams, above, spoke at the Fayette, Mississippi, ceremony in which the late civil rights leader Charles Evers was honored with a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker. (Click on image to enlarge.)

FAYETTE, Miss. – Dr. Michael V. Williams, professor of History and director of Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, participated in a ceremony Friday, February 28, 2025 in Fayette, Mississippi, that honored the legacy of James Charles Evers, who served for 16 years as the town’s mayor. Charles Evers was the brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers.

Williams served as a guest speaker for the event that included the unveiling of a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker erected in Charles Evers’ honor. About 200 people turned out for the event which was held at the Jefferson County Courthouse at 1484 Main Street in Fayette.

 Williams shared the platform with another guest speaker: Democratic Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, who represents Mississippi’s 2nd congressional district.

Dr. Michael V. Williams, second from right, poses with the family of Charles Evers in front of the Mississippi Freedom Trail marker erected in Evers' honor. The marker was unveiled Friday, February 28, 2025 in Fayette, Mississippi. (Click on image to enlarge.)

The Mississippi Freedom Trail was created to honor the people and places in the state that played an important role in the American Civil Rights Movement. The markers are administered by the Mississippi Humanities Council and Visit Mississippi.

During William’s presentation, he said Charles Evers’ life came “to epitomize what it meant to fight for and demand freedom, to fight for and demand equality, to fight for and demand justice, and to dedicate his life to the defense of humanity .…”

Williams said Charles Evers was unwavering in his belief that Mississippi could be better, but that it was up to the people to make it so. “He told us that we have a responsibility to challenge wrong, wherever we found it,” Williams said.

Charles Evers was also down-to-earth in his communication with the public, according to Williams. He said Charles Evers’ talks also revealed his fearlessness, as in his statement, “I would rather be dead and in heaven than be afraid to do what I think is right.”

First elected in 1969, Charles Evers was the first Black mayor of a biracial town in Mississippi since Reconstruction, following passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enforced constitutional rights for citizens. He was remembered at the ceremony as a fearless leader and man of principle who stayed the course in the fight for justice, freedom, and equality.

Charles Evers was born in 1922 in Decatur. He spent many years of service as a businessman, civil rights activist, and politician. He also worked as station manager for WMPR, where he hosted a weekly political talk show.

Charles Evers served in the U.S. Army during World War II. He was a 1950 graduate of Alcorn A&M College in Lorman, which is today’s Alcorn State University.

In addition to his time as mayor of Fayette, Charles Evers served as Mississippi field secretary for the NAACP following the assassination of his younger brother, Medgar Evers, on June 12, 1963. During the mid-1960s, Charles Evers became a leader of the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez after the attempted assassination of NAACP President George Metcalfe, whose car was bombed by the Ku Klux Klan on August 27,1965.

Charles Evers played a significant role in the success of the Natchez movement, according to historians.  When he departed Natchez, he left “with his own position strengthened statewide,” wrote John Dittmer in “Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi” (University of Illinois Press, 1995). “Nationally, the charismatic brother of Medgar Evers had come to symbolize the civil rights movement in Mississippi.”

 In 1969, the NAACP named him the “Man of the Year” because of his accomplishments.  Charles Evers died in July 2020 in Brandon, Mississippi. He was 97.

See more at this link: https://www.chattnewschronicle.com/top-stories/dr-michael-v-williams-speaks-at-mississippi-event-honoring-late-civil-rights-leader-charles-evers/

Visit Natchez’s Roscoe Barnes III elected president of Mississippi Historical Society

This story was published online by The Natchez Democrat (Monday, March 10, 2025)

From left, Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, the outgoing president of the Mississippi Historical Society, passes the gavel to  Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, who will lead the organization for the next year through March 5, 2026. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ,  Miss. -- Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez, is the new president of the Mississippi Historical Society. He was elected Thursday, March 6, during the society’s annual meeting in Jackson. He will lead the organization for the next year through March 5, 2026, when the meeting is held in Meridian.

"I am grateful to the Mississippi Historical Society for having faith in me and for giving me the opportunity to serve in this capacity," said Barnes. "I am excited about my new role, and I look forward to working with our members and partners to create exciting programs and other endeavors over the  next year."

 As the new president, Barnes fills the position previously held by Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi. He will serve alongside Keena Graham, the society’s new vice president. Graham is the superintendent of the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument in Jackson.

"The Mississippi Historical Society has benefited from the leadership of Roscoe Barnes in recent years and is proud that he will be the organization's president for 2025-26," said secretary-treasurer Brother Rogers.

The Mississippi Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that works with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to promote understanding of the state's history. Barnes joined the society’s board of directors in 2022. In 2023, he was named chairman of the Awards Committee. He became vice president in 2024.

In January, Barnes completed his term as a trustee of the Natchez Historical Society. In 2023, the Mississippi Humanities Council selected him for its 2023 Humanities Partner Award.

In addition to his work at Visit Natchez, Barnes is an award-winning newspaper journalist and independent scholar whose research focuses on Anne Moody, the Civil Rights Movement, F.F. Bosworth, Ernest Hemingway, and the history of Natchez. He is founding chairman of the Anne Moody History Project, a public history endeavor created to promote the legacy of Anne Moody and her book, "Coming of Age in Mississippi."

Barnes holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Church History and Church Polity from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a Master of Arts in Religion from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg.

A prolific writer, Barnes is the author of multiple books, including “F.F. Bosworth: The Man Behind ‘Christ the Healer’” (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009); and “Off to War: Franklin Countians in World War II” (White Mane Publishing, 1996). His work is widely published in newspapers, magazines, encyclopedias, and academic journals.
 

Inspiring message by V. Charlene Evers-Kreel

(Click on image to enlarge.)

This story appears in the Thursday, March 6, 2025, issue of The Mississippi Link.