Deadline: Mississippi Stories Grant

The Mississippi Stories Grant program, supported by the Mississippi Legislature and the Mississippi Department of Archives & History, is designed to help Mississippians share the stories that matter most to them and their communities. The Mississippi Stories program is rooted in the idea that some of our most meaningful history is found in the voices and lived experiences of everyday people.

This new grant program will support community projects to collect and share first-hand accounts of the lives, histories, and experiences of Mississippians. While such projects may include traditional oral history initiatives that will be professionally archived, these grants will also support Mississippi story-based projects that result in museum exhibits, online exhibits, podcasts, documentary films, or other media. While interviews remain central, the Mississippi Stories Grant encourages creative ways to bring these stories to life and make them accessible to the public.

By “Mississippi stories,” we mean personal narratives grounded in first-hand testimony and individual perspective, rather than interpretations or retellings of someone else’s experiences or history. Examples of fundable projects might include:

• An interactive digital kiosk and audio-equipped display that allows museum visitors to listen to people’s voices alongside photographs, letters, and historical artifacts.
• A project like Academy Stories, a web-based initiative which gathers and shares personal narratives discussing a significant event or period in Mississippi history.
• Documentary films that can weave first-person oral history recordings into the narrative as on‑camera interviews or voiceover, using the speaker’s own words, emotions, and memories to frame historical events, provide context, and ground the film’s interpretation of the past in lived experience.
• History exhibits, such as those at the Mississippi Delta Chinese Heritage Museum in Cleveland, which enhance visitors’ experience by incorporating first-person interviews into the exhibit text or audio/visual displays.
• Oral history interviews on a particular topic or community that will be archived and made accessible.

All stories and materials produced through these grants, whether presented in physical or digital form, must be made accessible to the public at no cost.

Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded three times a year, with deadlines on September 15, January 15, and May 1. For 2026 and 2027, no matching funds are required. Projects will be reviewed by a grant committee, with final recommendations approved by the Mississippi Humanities Council board. All Mississippi Stories grant applications must be submitted through our online portal.