Norman B. Rohrer, founder and director of the Christian Writers Guild, has passed

 His family shared his final, heartwarming message on YouTube

I was saddened to learn that Norman B. Rohrer, founder of the Christian Writers Guild, has passed. He was 95. His family shared this video of him on YouTube. I'm proud to say I was one of Rohrer’s many students in the early 1980s. He was a great teacher and mentor.

Natchez Historical Society honors Lance S. Harris at 2025 Dinner Meeting

By Roscoe Barnes III 
ListenUpYall.com
Jan 31, 2025 | 3:17 PM

Karen Hill, president of the Natchez Historical Society, presented Lance S. Harris with the 2025 Historic Preservation Award at the society’s annual dinner on Tuesday, January 28, at the Natchez Grand Hotel. Harris is sites operation administrator for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Trustees of the Natchez Historical Society are ecstatic about their annual dinner held Tuesday, January 28, at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

Over 130 people turned out for the event that featured a presentation of the 2025 Historic Preservation Award to Lance S. Harris and an engaging talk by Matthew Skic on “Muskets Along the Mississippi: The Revolutionary War in the West.”

The program was funded in part by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Karen Hill, the outgoing president of the society, said she was more than happy about the program. “We had a record attendance of 137 people,” she said. “I am so proud of the people of Natchez in their support of the Natchez Historical Society and Natchez’s rich history.”

Hill said she was especially thrilled about the recognition given to Harris, “as he has contributed so much in various projects of historical significance.” Harris is the sites operation administrator for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Hill said the audience “thoroughly enjoyed” Skic’s presentation on the American Revolution. Skic, the featured speaker, is curator of exhibitions at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

His talk focused on the significance of Natchez and New Orleans in the war, topics that are relevant as the nation reflects upon the upcoming 250th anniversary of America’s independence. Skic talked about the “crucial military campaigns” along the Mississippi River. He used PowerPoint images to show how the region was deeply involved in the war.

Recognition of board members

During the business portion of the meeting, Hill thanked the society’s board members for their work. She acknowledged the board members who were leaving after completing their term. In addition to herself and Roscoe Barnes III, publicity chair, the departing board members included Norma Bearden, membership chair, and Adam Gwin, vice president.

Hill also thanked former board members Mary Eidt, Mike Gemmell, Page Ogden, Maria Bowser, and her husband, Charlie Hill, for their service, and all the other members who helped her along the way.

Hill introduced the new board members, who include Ginny Benoist, president; Nicole Harris, vice president; Fran Trappey, secretary; Al King, treasurer; Daye Dearing, program chair; Bobby Denis, communications and public relations chair; Elodie Pritchartt, publicity chair; Julianna Rabb, membership chair; and Laura Tate, hospitality chair.

Award presentation

Each year, the society presents a preservation award that honors individuals or organizations who have made a significant contribution to historic preservation or the study of history within the Natchez area.

This year, the award went to Harris, who was presented a plaque with the inscription: “Natchez Historical Society Proudly Presents THE PRESERVATION AWARD to Lance S. Harris For Significant Contributions to Historic Preservation, January 2025.”

Harris offered his appreciation for the award: “Natchez has held a special place in my heart for a long time. Many of you know that I had been an annual visitor to the city since my teenage years. Those trips fueled my love of history leading to my collegiate and professional career in the public history and museum sectors.

“I met my beautiful wife Nicole in graduate school and after spending a dozen years in Louisiana, we recrossed the river to Natchez right at 10 years ago. I am thankful that the community embraced us with open arms and has been such a special place to raise our children, Amelie and Roan.”

Finance report

Al King, the society’s treasurer, presented the annual financial report for the society. He said 2024 was a good year and the society looks forward to the new year with more exciting programs and new projects.

In 2024, the society made a donation to support a historical marker for Prince Ibrahima near Historic Jefferson College. King said the organization wants to support other projects in 2025.

In addition to providing support for the marker, King said the society upgraded its website and sound system.

King presented a financial report that shows a total of $7,491 in income receipts and a total of $10,982 in expenses. The society’s total ending net assets for 2024 were $318,129. The amount is up from $276,429 in 2023.

“We’re in good shape,” King said, noting the total for the net assets was due to “the good stock market.”

King acknowledged the $2,400 grant awarded to the society by the Mississippi Humanities Council. The grant helps cover its monthly lecture series from September through May.

King also acknowledged the contribution of Geoff Butcher and Jim Johnson, who own The Carriage House at Myrtle Terrace. They provide housing at their guest house for out-of-town speakers at the society’s monthly meetings.

2025 Goals

The mission of the Natchez Historical Society is to serve as a resource for the research, development, presentation, remembrance, and understanding of the formative history of the Natchez area. With that in mind, its goals for 2025 and beyond include:

* Collecting historical material about Natchez and Adams County

* Cooperating with officials in ensuring the preservation and accessibility of local records

* Disseminating historical information through publications and other means

*Preserving historic buildings, monuments, and markers

* Conducting meetings with lectures, papers, and discussions

* Participating in relevant field trips and tours

After serving for many years on the society’s board, Hill said she is grateful for all the things she has learned about Natchez.

“When i first accepted the Program Chair in 2017, I knew little about Natchez and Mississippi history,” she said. “Once I started studying and researching, I realized the national and global people and events in this area. I couldn’t get enough!”

With its new president and other board members, the society is in good hands, Hill said, and she looks forward to seeing the exciting things ahead.

Visiting Mississippi State University to talk about Prince Ibrahima

 

(Click on image to enlarge.)

I’m looking forward to my upcoming presentation at Mississippi State University, where I will talk about the “Prince Among Slaves.” Many thanks to my friend, DeeDee Baldwin.

Natchez's Military Museum featured in Arkansas Review

(Click on image to enlarge.)

This is my article on The Miss-Lou Military Museum and Veterans Welcome/Information Center that was published in the December 2024 issue of the Arkansas Review: A Journal of Delta Studies. The article is eight pages long and includes photos.

You can read it (or download) at this link: 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/388162062_The_Miss-Lou_Military_Museum_and_Veterans_WelcomeInformation_Center

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Civil rights pioneers and participants to be honored in MLK parade

Alderman Frazier will serve as grand marshal

NOTE: The parade has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 26, due to inclement weather.

Billie Joe Frazier
Natchez Alderman, Ward 2

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Natchez Alderman Billie Joe Frazier, Ward 2, will serve as the grand marshal for the Natchez NAACP Dr. MLK Parade on Monday, January 20, announced Jacqueline Marsaw, who chairs the parade committee.

“It is an honor and a pleasure to be named grand marshal for this parade,” said Frazier. “This is an important event. It is very special to me, and I appreciate what it means to our city.”
 
The parade will kick off at 3 p.m., with the line-up beginning at 2 p.m. on Broadway Street on the Bluff. This year’s theme is “Natchez All In.”
 
Prominent names in Black History, such as Medgar Evers and Wharlest Jackson Sr., will be honored in the parade, along with Ida B. Wells-Barnett, whose image now appears on the U.S. quarter.
 
Others who will be honored include Derrick Johnson, president of the National NAACP; Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-C. M. Boxley, former civil rights worker and coordinator of Friends of the Forks of the Roads Society; and Nick Bezzel, founder of the Elmer Geronimo Pratt Pistol & Rifle Gun Club.
 
Marsaw said that one of the highlights of the event will be the “Parchman Living Legends,” the civil rights workers who were arrested on October 2 and 3, 1965, for marching through the streets of Natchez, defying a court ban against marching. This resulted in several hundred of them being arrested.
 
When the local jails became full, the authorities bused 150 of them to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman where they received harsh treatment at the prison. Their experience became known as “The Parchman Ordeal.”
 
The “Parchman Living Legends” will have their own float in the parade, according to Marsaw. Those who were arrested but did not go to Parchman, will also be honored, she said.
 
The parade is especially meaningful to Frazier. In an August 2023 interview, Frazier said that in the 1960s, he was one among many teenagers who participated in the protest marches during the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez. “It all started at the grassroots level,” he said. “We were the young people then who took everything to the forefront.” 
 
Frazier went on to serve in law enforcement. In 2008, he retired as a lieutenant with the Natchez Police Department, where he served for 32 years. Frazier spent three and half years in the Navy. He is serving his ninth year as a member of the Natchez Board of Aldermen.

Marsaw reported a team of nine volunteers with AmeriCorps will assist with the parade. The team, designated as River Five, will be led by Team Leader Craig Kuhnert of AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps).

A deserving tribute to the 'Parchman Living Legends'

Top of the Morning column published in The Natchez Democrat (Wednesday, January 15, 2024, page 4A)

NOTE: The parade has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 26, due to inclement weather.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Top of the Morning

 

A deserving tribute to the ‘Parchman Living Legends’

 

By Roscoe Barnes III

 
When Jacqueline Marsaw decided to feature the “Parchman Living Legends” in the Natchez NAACP Dr. MLK Parade on January 20, she made an excellent choice.
 
Marsaw chairs the MLK parade committee, and by recognizing these veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, she is doing her part to share their stories while helping to preserve an important piece of Natchez’s history.
 
Marsaw is also introducing these heroes to a new generation. This is important, in part, because some of the atrocities that occurred at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan – and other racists – are simply hard to imagine today. For many, the terror that ripped through Natchez in the 1960s (and earlier) is either forgotten or hardly discussed.
 
But who are these “Living Legends” that the parade will feature? In short, they were the warriors of the movement who refused to give up in the face of racial violence. As Ser Seshsh Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley has stated, “They didn’t let nobody turn them round!”
 
On the weekend of October 2-3, 1965, over 300 of them were arrested after they marched through the streets of Natchez, defying  a court ban against marching. When the local jails became full, the authorities bused 150 of them to the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman, where they endured harsh treatment. It is said that they were “Proud to Take a Stand.” Their experience became known as “The Parchman Ordeal.”
In his book, “Local People: The Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi” (University of Illinois Press, 1995), John Dittmer writes that the protesters over 12 were sent to Parchman.
 
“City officials hoped that this action would crush the movement, for at Parchman male prisoners were stripped naked and for two nights suffered through temperatures in the forties with windows open and fans blowing,” Dittmer writes. “Men and women both were force-fed laxatives and given only ‘sparse supplies’ of toilet paper.”
 
According to Stanley Nelson, author of “Devils Walking: Klan Murders along the Mississippi in the 1960s” (LSU Press, 2016), some of the protesters were ordered to drink out of the toilets. Nelson notes that one of those arrested and sent to Parchman was Exerlena Jackson, the wife of Wharlest Jackson Sr. Wharlest was killed in the February 27, 1967, bombing of his truck by the Ku Klux Klan on Minor Street in Natchez.
 
Nelson also reports: “One fourteen-year-old female inmate was sent home early by bus, arriving just in time to be rushed to the hospital, where she delivered a stillborn child.”
 
As you can see, these veterans of the movement made notable sacrifices for the cause. They paid a high price for freedom and civil rights, but in the end, their efforts resulted in one of the most successful community victories in Mississippi.
 
A few days ago, I asked Marsaw about her reason for featuring these civil rights veterans. She said the idea originated with Helen White, who was one of the protesters who went to Parchman. White had asked her about honoring these heroes in the 2024 parade and onward.
 
Marsaw liked the idea. She said that many from the movement are now up in age, and some have passed on. “I wanted to make it a point to honor them this year and each year going forward,” Marsaw said. The honorees will include the protesters who were arrested but did not go to Parchman, she said.
 
The “Parchman Living Legends” will have their own float in the parade. Marsaw said she’s grateful to the people who made donations for the float.
 
The MLK parade will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, January 20, with the line-up beginning at 2 p.m. on Broadway Street on the Bluff.
 
---------------

ROSCOE BARNES III, Ph.D., is the cultural heritage tourism manager for Visit Natchez.

Mark your calendar for the 2025 Annual Dinner of the Natchez Historical Society

The dinner is Tuesday, January 28, at the Natchez Grand Hotel.

Reservation and payment deadline is January 14.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

‘I Have a Dream Youth Luncheon’ set for Jan. 20

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Published Friday, January 3, 2025

Praise Dancers of Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church perform at an earlier "I Have a Dream Youth Luncheon." The next program will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, January 20, at the Natchez Convention Center. Photo courtesy of William Terrell of The Bluff City Post.

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- After being on hold for several years, the “I Have a Dream Youth Luncheon” will once again be held in recognition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The event, last held before COVID-19 in 2019, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, January 20, at the Natchez Convention Center. The price of the meal is $11 per person.
 
The program is being organized by the Natchez Association for the Preservation of Afro-American Culture (NAPAC) and the Natchez Business and Civic League.
 
Jimmy Ware, president of the Natchez Business and Civic League, said the program is a way for the volunteers and the community to live up to the ideas of King. He noted that for the past 30 years, attendance at the event actually grew from 75 guests to about 1,200.
The luncheon, which was held annually, shut down in 2020 because of the pandemic.
 
Mary White, a longtime member of the MLK Day Committee, said the program is exciting for everyone. It features children ages three to young adult who share their talent in presentations and a variety of performances, she said.
 
“We have kids from churches and schools participating,” she said. “They perform in dance groups. They give speeches, and some of them sing. After the performances, we feed them lunch and then they go to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade. All of the kids are talented.”
 
The music is provided by a professional musician, White said.
 
The MLK Day Committee is seeking sponsors for the event. Ware shared: “All sponsors are asked to make a monetary contribution, which will help offset expenses such as facility rental fees, food services, and publicity. Sponsors may also purchase tickets that will be donated so that local youths may attend the luncheon.”
 
Sponsorship levels include: Platinum Sponsor: $1,000; Gold Sponsor: $700; Silver Sponsor: $500; Bronze Sponsor: $250; Sponsor: $50; and donations of any amount.
 
Sponsors are asked to promote the event in their place of business, Ware said, adding the names of all of the sponsors will be listed in the luncheon program.
 
The 2025 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade, which will follow the luncheon, will be held at 3 p.m. Monday, January 20, with the line-up beginning at 2 p.m. on Broadway Street on the Bluff.
 
For more information, call Flora Terrell at 601-446-6288 or Jimmy Ware at 601-870-5088.

Prince among slaves: New grant will fund Prince Ibrahima brochure

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Published Friday, January 3, 2025  

Beverly B. Adams, a descendant of Prince Ibrahima, displays a copy of the book she wrote about the prince. It’s titled “Chronicles of the Life of Prince Abdul-Rahman Ibrahima: A Journey through Slavery From Timbo to Natchez” (The Gazell Studios LLC, 2018). Adams said she and her family are elated about the forthcoming publication on the prince. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Mississippi Humanities Council recently awarded a $2,111 mini-grant to Visit Natchez for a new publication on the life of Prince Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori (1762-1829).

 
The working title is "Prince Ibrahima: A Profile and Self-Guided Tour." It will feature a short biography of Ibrahima, a list of the sites he visited and other areas, including gravesites, related to his life history in Natchez and Adams County. A map and photos of the selected sites will be included.
 
"The story of Prince Ibrahima is one of the most fascinating chapters in Mississippi's history,” said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. “The Humanities Council is pleased to support Visit Natchez's efforts to share this remarkable story with both visitors and local residents."
 
Lynsey Gilbert, interim director of Visit Natchez, said the publication will introduce people to an important figure in Natchez's history. 
 
"We're excited about this project on Prince Ibrahima, and we appreciate the support of the Mississippi Humanities Council in helping us to honor his legacy by publishing and promoting his story," said Gilbert.
 
She noted the publication will be designed as a pamphlet, which will make it suitable as a convenient, easy-to-use resource for self-guided tours.
 
“My family and I are elated that our ancestor is being recognized with this prestigious honor,” said Beverly B. Adams, a descendant of Prince Ibrahima. “I believe that Prince Abdul Rahman would also approve of the story of his life being shared with others to acknowledge the unfortunate events of slavery and how it affected victims of it.”
 
Bobby Dennis, executive director of the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, said the publication will be good for sharing Natchez history and for promoting tourism.
 
“This can bring to life a story about the skills and wisdom of the enslaved person before he was enslaved,” Dennis said. “The knowledge and skills needed for the plantation owner's success are never expressed but can be seen through Prince Ibrahima’s life here in the Natchez District.”
 
The Natchez Democrat has been tapped to provide the graphic design. Printing will be done by Murray Printing.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Ibrahima (1762–1829) was a Muslim prince from Timbo, Guinea, West Africa, who was captured in 1788 and sold to slave traders. He spent 40 years enslaved on Thomas Foster’s plantation near Natchez.
 
Ibrahima arrived in Natchez in August 1788. He gained his freedom in 1828 with the help of  Andrew Marschalk, who was known as the “Father of Mississippi Journalism,”  and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Clay in President John Quincy Adams’ administration.
 
On April 8, 1828, Ibrahima and his wife, Isabella, boarded the Neptune steamboat and departed Natchez with their freedom as they waved goodbye to their children who remained enslaved. In 1829, they sailed to Liberia where Ibrahima died at the age of 67. He never reached his homeland.
 
Ibrahima’s story is told in Dr. Terry Alford's book, "Prince Among Slaves: The True Story of an African Prince Sold into Slavery in the American South" (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977). Most of the research in the new publication is based on Alford's book.
 
The new publication will support other historical and promotional initiatives implemented to tell Ibrahima’s story, according to Visit Natchez.
 
In October 2024, the Natchez Historical Society approved a donation of $3,420 that will cover the cost of the area’s first historical marker honoring the prince. The marker will be acquired through the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. It will be located on MDAH property off of Highway 61 North near Historic Jefferson College.
 
Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/01/03/prince-among-slaves-new-grant-will-fund-prince-ibrahima-brochure/