"Bringing Her Home": News clips of my presentation on Anne Moody

I’m very pleased to see this news shared by The Woodville Republican (Woodville, Miss.) and my hometown paper, The Enterprise-Tocsin (Indianola, Miss.). The story of Anne Moody deserves the recognition.

Natchez tour guide published for 27 historical African American sites

 

Bobby Dennis, left, executive director of Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, and Mayor Dan M. Gibson, display the newly published booklet, “African American History Trail in Natchez: A Self-Guided Tour.”

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- A colorful eight-page booklet that outlines the history of 27 African American sites in Natchez is now available as a handy resource for discovering local history.

The publication is titled, “African American History Trail in Natchez: A Self-Guided Tour.” It features images that include historical photographs, portraits of notable African Americans, monuments, as well as historic buildings.

Snippets of history and QR codes are listed for each site. A quick scan of the QR codes will lead readers to additional information posted on the website hosted by Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture. “Even more, the QR code allows visitors and residents to take a self-guided tour,” said Museum Director Bobby Dennis.

The City of Natchez unveiled markers for the 27 African-American historical sites during a special ceremony on February 1 to mark the start of Black History Month. The project was a joint venture between the city and the museum.

Mayor Dan Gibson said the markers will play a significant role in telling the complete history of the city. “Following through with the commitment I made when I began my term as Mayor of Natchez, ‘to tell the whole story’, it brings me great joy to finally be able to recognize with signage these important historic sites,” Gibson said.

This publication was sponsored by the City of Natchez, Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture, Visit Natchez, and Historic Natchez Foundation.

Copies are available at the following locations:

Natchez City Hall

Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture

Visit Natchez

Historic Natchez Foundation

Natchez Visitor Center

83rd Year Commemoration of Rhythm Night Club Fire set for Saturday, April 22

Monroe and Betty Sago are pictured here honoring the victims and survivors of the Rhythm Night Club fire at an earlier commemoration ceremony.

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- The 83rd commemoration of the Rhythm Night Club fire of April 23, 1940, will be held at 12 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Rhythm Night Club (on site) Memorial Museum at #5 St. Catherine Street, Natchez.

This event is held annually by Monroe and Betty Sago, the owners and operators of the museum.

This year’s program will feature Mayor Dan Gibson as the guest speaker. As in past years, the event will include music and a presentation of a scholarship to a local high school student. 

Last year’s scholarship went to Kerrigan Winding, a Cathedral student who plans to go to Southern Miss., according to Betty Sago. Winding is “a student who will study speech pathology because her cousin needed speech therapy,” she said.

Door prizes will be given away and refreshments will be provided. The program is free to the public.

The Rhythm Night Club Museum tells the tragic story of the fire that killed more than 200 people, including Walter Barnes and members of his band. The museum opened in 2010 on the actual site of the original building at 5 St. Catherine St.

Visitors from across the United States visit the museum to hear the stories, see the images, and hear the recorded voices of those who survived the fire.

For more information, visit https://www.rnconsitemm.org

Joseph McGill Jr. coming to Natchez for two-day program on slave dwellings

Joseph McGill Jr.

NATCHEZ, Miss. -- Joseph McGill Jr., a renowned authority on slave dwellings, is coming to Natchez for a two-day program that will feature a lecture and a living history campfire conversation.

The lecture, which is titled, “The Education Value of Sleeping in Slave Dwellings: Mississippi Edition,” will be presented at 6 p.m. Friday, April 14 at Historic Natchez Foundation. The campfire conversation will be held at 6 p.m., April 15 at the Auburn slave quarters.

Both events are free and open to the public. They are part of McGill’s nationally acclaimed Slave Dwelling Project. The two-day program is being hosted by Historic Natchez Foundation, Natchez National Historical Park, and Our Restoration Nation.

McGill is a history consultant for Magnolia Plantation in Charleston, S.C., and the founder and director of the Slave Dwelling Project. Through the Slave Dwelling Project, he has arranged for people to “sleep in extant slave dwellings,” providing experiences that “brought much needed attention to these often-neglected structures that are vitally important to the American built environment,” McGill said in a biographical sketch.

Since 2018, McGill has conducted more than 250 overnights in about 100 different sites in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

As a field officer for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, McGill worked to revitalize the Sweet Auburn commercial district in Atlanta, Ga., and to develop a management plan for the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

McGill is a former executive director of the African American Museum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a former director of history and culture at Penn Center, St. Helena Island, South Carolina. He has also served as a National Park Service park ranger at Fort Sumter National Monument in Charleston.

McGill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Professional English from South Carolina State University, Orangeburg, S.C. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

McGill’s work is recognized by authors and historians. He is featured in the books “Confederates in the Attic” by Tony Horwitz and “Behind the Big House” by Jodi Skipper.

Historic Natchez Foundation is located at 108 S. Commerce St. and Auburn is at 400 Duncan Avenue, both in Natchez. Parking is in the rear of Auburn, which is accessed from the second road on the right inside the Duncan Park Gate.

For more information, contact Carter Burns at Historic Natchez Foundation: Call 601-442-2500 or send email to carterburns@natchez.org. Information about the Slave Dwelling Project can be found at https://slavedwellingproject.org/

2023 Mississippi Public Humanities Award winners

 From Dr. Stuart Rockoff (@sturockoff), Executive Director of Mississippi Humanities Council: “These are some of the amazing folks working to move Mississippi forward. Congratulations on your public humanities awards!” 

Mississippi Humanities Council: "The work of these amazing people has inspired and enriched our state. We are grateful for their commitment to promoting understanding, creativity, and critical thinking. Congratulations to all the 2023 Public Humanities Award winners! Thank you for your invaluable contributions to the world of public humanities."

From left: Dr. Roscoe Barnes III – Humanities Partner Award; Dr. Ebony Lumumba – Humanities Educator Award; Jeanne Luckett – Cora Norman Award; Utica Institute Museum – Reflecting Mississippi Award; Dr. Rebecca Tuuri – Humanities Scholar Award. 

2023 Mississippi Public Humanities Awards Ceremony

 Event was held Friday, March 24, 2023, at the Two Museums in Jackson, Miss.

I'm pictured here with my friend, Teresa Farley, and
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.

Photos taken at the 2023 Mississippi Public Humanities Awards Ceremony held Friday, March 24, 2023, at the Two Museums in Jackson, Miss. I was honored as the winner of the 2023 Humanities Partner Award.

I was thrilled to be joined by my friend, Teresa Farley, and Devin Heath Sr., executive director of Visit Natchez. In addition to meeting other friends, historians, authors, and scholars, I had the pleasure of meeting Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. I was also happy to see my friend Betty Jo Harris honored as a winner of the 2023 Humanities Teacher Awards.

We all had a great time. The ceremony was exciting, inspiring, and unforgettable! Many thanks to the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Photos by Devin Heath.

 I'm here with Devin Heath Sr., executive director of Visit Natchez.

 

I'm here with Betty Jo Harris, history teacher at Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

Natchez Freedom Trail Marker

Date set for unveiling ceremony

This ceremony is free and open to the public.

I’m happy to announce that we finally have a date for the unveiling of the Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker in Natchez. The ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Monday, April 17, at the Dr. John Banks House at 9 St. Catherine St. (See attached flyer.)

Details about the ceremony will be shared soon.

Photo caption: Pictured in the foreground is Jack Seale, a major in the security guard of the Mississippi chapter of the Ku Klux Klan at Natchez. Hundreds of civil rights activists marched past him in downtown Natchez on Oct. 30, 1965.  Photo courtesy of Historic Natchez Foundation

#CivilRights #VisitNatchez #FreedomTrailMarker #CivilRightsTrail #NatchezHistory #BlackHistory #NatchezFreedomTrailMarker #NAACP