My Visit to Elms Court in Natchez, Miss.

This is from a recent visit to Elms Court, a popular historic home in Natchez. I’m here with Anne MacNeil, left, who owns the home, and her sister, Dr. Beth MacNeil Boggess. Their family has owned the home for many generations. Property includes other historic buildings.

Elizabeth Taylor spent time here in the 50s. Several movies were filmed here, including:

Rain Tree County (1957)
Beulah Land (1980)
Huck Finn (1993)
Uncle Tom Cabin (1987)
 

#VisitNatchez #ElmsCourt #natchezmississippi #History

Forks of the Road: Property Officially Donated to the Natchez National Historical Park

 #VisitNatchez

On Friday, June 18, 202, I had the privilege of attending a special ceremony at the Forks of the Road site in Natchez. The city officially turned the site over to the Natchez National Historical Park, a unit of the National Park Service (NPS). The Forks of the Road site was one of the largest slave markets in the United States. I’m pictured here with Mayor Dan Gibson (center), and Barney Schoby Jr., who gave a passionate presentation as a soldier with the USCT 6th Regiment, Heavy Artillery, US Colored Troops.

I was honored to join these distinguished men in the photo. They are, from left: Devin Heath, executive director of Visit Mississippi (my boss); Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson, and Congressman Michael Guest. It was significant that this event occurred on the eve of Juneteenth.

#forksoftheroad #visitnatchez #natchezmississippi

National Coverage: Anne Moody and the Mississippi Writers Trail

#AnneMoody

#ComingOfAgeinMississippi

#VisitMississippi

I'm happy to report our story on Anne Moody and the Mississippi Writers Trail has gone national. Special thanks to Publisher Bryan Davis of The Enterprise-Tocsin, Emmerich Newspapers, and The Associated Press.
 
I learned of the coverage when I did a search with these words: "Anne Moody" "Mississippi Writers Club."

The Associated Press version (which was picked up by papers throughout the country) is here:

Mississippi Writers Trail honors civil rights memoir author

https://apnews.com/article/ms-state-wire-mississippi-entertainment-d7072a15fd2f6596352241f60069b47f

The Hattiesburg American version is here:

 
'Seeing Jim Crow Mississippi through her eyes': Anne Moody honored on MS Writers Trail
https://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/2021/05/29/mississippi-writers-trail-honors-anne-moody-civil-rights-activist-centreville/7487465002/

 
The Greenwood Commonwealth version is here:
 
Civil Rights Pioneer Anne Moody Is Featured On The Mississippi Writers Trail

https://www.gwcommonwealth.com/communities-entertainment-features-lifestyles-state/civil-rights-pioneer-anne-moody-featured-60b1000e14f5b

The Natchez Democrat: Visit Natchez hires cultural heritage manager

By Hunter Cloud
Published 8:00 am Saturday, May 29, 2021
Email the author

Dr. Roscoe Barnes III
Cultural Heritage Tourism Manager for Visit Natchez

NATCHEZ — Roscoe Barnes III has joined Visit Natchez as its new Cultural Heritage Tourism Manager.

Barnes’s official start date was May 24, according to a news release from Visit Natchez.
Working under the direction of Visit Natchez’s Executive Director Devin Heath, Barnes will be responsible for encouraging, enhancing, developing and expanding heritage tourism in Natchez.

In this new role, Barnes would work to positively impact the economic and social growth of Natchez. He would also work to push contributions to a more diverse and shared story that authentically represents the stories and people of the destination from past and present.

“This is a very important role in today’s cultural climate, and we felt it was necessary to create this position for our destination,” Heath said. “Roscoe brings a wealth of experience and a diverse background, and we’re sure he will positively impact Visit Natchez in many ways.”

Most recently, Barnes was the Public Information Officer at Wilkinson County Correction Facility in nearby Woodville, where he also served as the facility’s chaplain since 2013.

Barnes has worked with various community organizations, in public relations and as a journalist throughout his career. In 2010 Barnes received a Ph.D. in Church History and Polity from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, and he is also a published author.

“I am honored to start this new role and join Devin Heath’s team at Visit Natchez,” Barnes said. “I am looking forward to utilizing my unique background to positively impact this amazing destination and promote the heritage tourism that you can only find in Natchez.”

He likes history because there is always something you can learn from it. He wants to use it as a tool to help people understand the past.

On one visit to Natchez, Barnes stopped by the Forks in the Road, where a gentleman from Rev Country tours was giving a tour.

“He started talking, and then he showed us on the ground pieces of iron cuffs, shackles and chains, and he said those are not replicas, I just knelt down and placed my hand on those shackles,” Barnes said. “It resonated with me, it was sunny and warm but when I touched the metal, I felt a chill. It was so moving. Who knew it was here in Natchez. Now, to be in a [position] where I can talk to people about history and the past, it is an honor, a privilege and a blessing.”

More information about Natchez can be found at www.visitnatchez.org or by calling 800-647-6724.

The Enterprise-Tocsin: Civil Rights Pioneer Anne Moody is Featured on the Mississippi Writers Trail

Editor's Note: I was thrilled to see this story published by The Enterprise-Tocsin (Indianola, Miss.) and other Emmerich newspapers throughout Mississippi. I am especially grateful to E-T Publisher Bryan Davis. The entire article may be viewed here or by following this link: https://www.enterprise-tocsin.com/communities-entertainment-features-lifestyles-state/civil-rights-pioneer-anne-moody-featured#sthash.JGnywTHo.dpbs

From left are: Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez; Maggie Lowery, cultural programs manager for Visit Mississippi; Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council; and Centreville Alderwoman Felicia Williams. Funding for the project was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities.

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CENTREVILLE, Miss. -- Civil Rights pioneer Anne Moody is now featured on the Mississippi Writers Trail (MWT) in Centreville. Her story is shared on an official marker on West Park Street North in The Louis Gaulden and Riquita Jackson Family Memorial Park, across from the Kevin Poole Van Cleave Library.
 
Moody, who wrote Coming of Age in Mississippi, and Mr. Death: Four Stories, was born and raised in Centreville. Both sides of the marker feature a biographical sketch of her life as a civil rights activist and her work as a writer.
 
The unveiling ceremony was organized by Maggie Lowery, cultural programs manager for Visit Mississippi, and Felicia Williams, who serves as alderwoman of Ward 1 in Centreville.
 
“It is my honor to be part of the program this morning,” said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. “The Mississippi Writers Trail celebrates our state’s extraordinary literary heritage. We take tremendous pride in how great writers like Anne Moody took their experiences living in this sometimes difficult and complicated place to create profound art that has moved readers all across the world.”
 
Rockoff said Moody’s book affected him, a white man from Texas, on a personal level, after he read it in graduate school.
 
“The book has been widely assigned in universities because of its eloquent and bracing truth about the experience of growing up in a society profoundly shaped, or misshaped, by white supremacy,” he said, noting Moody grew up in a society that was “predicated on the idea that white lives matter more.”
 
According to Rockoff, the genius of Moody as a writer is how she was able to draw readers into her own experience. “We see the world of Jim Crow Mississippi through her eyes,” he said. “And once we experience this, we are forever changed.”
 
Rockoff was one of several people who spoke during the ceremony. John Moore, who serves as Centreville Mayor Pro Tempore and Alderman of Ward 3, provided the Invocation; Dr. Roscoe Barnes III, chairman of the Anne Moody History Project, and Cultural Heritage Tourism manager for Visit Natchez, provided the Welcome. Barnes previously served as chaplain at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, the birthplace of the Anne Moody History Project.
 
Alderwoman Williams shared remarks and facilitated the unveiling. Williams described Moody as a heroine of the civil rights movement. In Coming of Age, she said, Moody “lucidly and eloquently articulates what it was like to grow up in poverty, to suffer racial discrimination, and to fight for social change as a civil rights activist.”
 
Moody died in 2015 at the age of 74. At the time of her death, she was living in Gloster, Miss. She will now join other famous writers like Eudora Welty, Margaret Walker, Elizabeth Spencer, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Shelby Foote, Walker Percy, and Ida B. Wells.
 
News of the marker was first shared by Williams in December 2019. She had been working with Lowery to secure a place for its location. According to Lowery, funding for the project was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities.
 
The unveiling ceremony was initially set for March 31. However, it was postponed due to COVID-19.
 
Lowery attended the recent ceremony along with Kristen Brandt, arts industry director for Mississippi Arts Commission, and Marion Barnwell, a Mississippi historian. A few local citizens that included children also turned out for the event.
 
The Mississippi Writers Trail is an initiative of the Mississippi Arts Commission, in partnership with the Community Foundation for Mississippi, Mississippi Book Festival, Mississippi Humanities Council, Visit Mississippi, Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Library Commission.

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#AnneMoody
#ComingOfAgeinMississippi
#MississippiWritersTrail
 

#ComingOfAgeinMississippi #CivilRights #BlackHistory #WomensHistory #Mississippi #Twitterstorians #BlkTwitterstorians 

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Want to know more about Anne Moody?

Visit here to see the timeline of

important events in her life history! 

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For more information: 
See the Anne Moody page here. Questions about the Anne Moody History Project may be directed to Roscoe Barnes III Ph.D. via email at doctorbarnes3@gmail.com or roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com For updates on Anne Moody history and the on-going work of this community service project, simply follow this blog or follow AMHP on Twitter (@AnneMoodyHP). #ComingOfAgeinMississippi

Resident of Wilkinson Prison Presents Academic Paper on Anne Moody

Glen Conley II realizes dream of becoming a scholar

#MTCChangesLives

 

Glen Conley II prepares to present paper on Anne Moody

WOODVILLE, Miss. -- Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) recently made history when one of its residents presented an academic paper from the facility using the Nooks platform.

Offender Glen Conley II presented a paper on Anne Moody at the 53rd annual conference held by the Western Association of Women Historians (WAWH) on Friday, April 23. The event took place as a virtual meeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using a laptop under the guidance of WCCF staff, Conley shared his research with scholars from several universities.

“This was a proud moment for all of us,” said Warden Scott Middlebrooks. “Conley is passionate about his research on Anne Moody and his passion came through during his presentation. This is an important milestone for WCCF and for the state of Mississippi.”
 
Conley’s paper was titled, “Coming of Age to See Things Differently: How Whites Influenced Anne Moody’s Decision to Fight Social Injustice.”

Conley, who hails from Hammond, LA., has been a resident at WCCF since 2016. He is an administrative orderly and Inmate Religious Assistant (IRA), who has completed the seminary program at Parchman. He earned a bachelor’s degree and an associate’s degree through the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Conley is currently pursuing a master’s degree in theological studies through NationsUniversity.

Staff members who attended the virtual event said Conley did a great job. “His presentation drew me in and held my attention,” said Investigator Lieutenant Michelle Higginbotham. “He is a great speaker and clearly an expert on Anne Moody.”

Security Threat Group (STG) Investigator Rachel Hickombottom said Conley was descriptive and persuasive in his presentation. “He did an excellent job, especially when he described who influenced [Moody],” she said. “She chose the direction that she did because of the things she saw around her. She wanted to mimic the people that she saw who were doing well. She didn’t want to stay in poverty – she wanted to rise and do better.”

Leigh Ann Wheeler, a professor of history at Binghamton University, was instrumental in arranging for Conley to speak at the conference. She described his contribution as an “historic treat for attendees.”

“Conley surprised many by arguing that various white people in Moody's life were the main inspiration behind her academic success and decision to fight against social injustice,” Wheeler said. “When challenged by the chair—the pioneering women's historian, Professor Sara Evans—for possibly giving southern whites too much credit, Conley related his research on Moody to today's racial problems, insisting that one way out of those problems is to focus on the good in people of all races and to resist rather than encourage race-based hatred.”

Wheeler is writing Moody’s biography. She was one of several scholars who also presented a paper on Moody at the WAWH conference.
 
Moody was a civil-rights pioneer who wrote the classic, Coming of Age in Mississippi. She grew up in Centreville. Moody died in 2015 at her home in Gloster. She was 74.

WCCF, which houses over 900 men, is managed by Management & Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah. The facility is the birthplace of the Anne Moody History Project, a community service endeavor in public history for Wilkinson and Amite Counties. Its aim is to honor Moody by promoting and helping to preserve her legacy as a noted author, civil rights pioneer, and historical figure in Mississippi. 

 #PrivatePrisons #Corrections #MTCChangesLives 

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ROSCOE BARNES III, Ph.D., is a writer, chaplain, historian, and former newspaper reporter. He is the author of more than a dozen books and Gospel tracts. For more information about his work and history, see his Personal Profile here or visit his website: http://www.roscoebarnes.net. Connect with him on Twitter (@roscoebarnes3) or by email: roscoebarnes3@yahoo.com.

Liberty’s Aaron Griffin Named ‘Employee of the Month for April’

Recognition given at Wilkinson Prison

Aaron Griffin

WOODVILLE, Miss. – Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) recently honored Liberty resident Aaron Griffin as Employee of the Month for April 2021.

 
“Aaron has done a great job keeping everyone’s time, attendance, and pay straight and in accordance to policy,” said Warden Scott Middlebrooks. “We appreciate him and we are grateful to him for all of his hard work.”
 
Griffin, who works as the accounting clerk for WCCF, has been employed by the company for more than two years. He is a 2010 graduate of Amite County High School. Griffin is also a 2016 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.
 
The young professional said he welcomed the news about his work. “I feel truly honored and appreciated,” he said.
 
Finance Manager Gregory Smith, Griffin’s supervisor, said he was pleased with the recognition given to Griffin.
 
“Mr. Griffin’s knowledge, reliability, and work ethic make him an integral part of the finance department and the facility as a whole,” he said. “This recognition is earned and well-deserved.”
 
Griffin plans to continue working hard while pursuing more education. “I am currently seeking both a program and university to pursue a Master’s degree,” he said.
 
WCCF, which houses over 900 men, is managed by Management & Training Corporation (MTC) of Utah.