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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).
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