Mississippi Humanities Council

Speakers Bureau: Mississippi Telling
2017-02-16 18:00 - 20:00 UTC | Oxford Lafayette Library, 401 Bramlett Blvd , Oxford, MS, 38655, United States
The presenter provides an overview of the storytelling Renaissance in America with emphasis upon the oral tradition in Mississippi. The literary tradition of Mississippi owes much to the rich storytelling legacy that riddles the tales of our families and our communities as reflected in the works of many of our best authors: Welty, Wright, Faulkner, Henley, Williams. As part of the presentation, Dr. Jernigan performs as a story teller calling upon on her rich repertoire of original tales and literary masterpieces gearing her choices of tales according to her audience and offers material for children and adults.
Rebecca Moore Jernigan is an internationally recognized scholar and professional storyteller who resides in Oxford.
Oxford Lafayette Library-6pm
No Cost
Sponsored by Oxford Lafayette Library & MS Humanities Council
For more information:
Nancy OPalko- 662-234-5751

Speakers Bureau: Why We Call it Soul Food
2017-02-16 17:30 - 19:30 | First Regional Library, 307 West Commerce St, Hernando, MS, 38632, United States
“Why We Call It Soul Food” tells the story of why southerners, especially African American southerners, call the foods we eat “soul food.” Dr. Willis discusses the emotional and physical aspects of soul food as it relates to our culture and history. She also discusses the bonds attached to the growing, nurturing and preparation of these foods as it relates to our culture and way of life in the South.
Dr. Willis is a native Mississippian. She grew up on a 200-acre working farm. As a child she had to learn how to cook for 15 brothers and sisters. She holds a bachelor of arts degree in social work with a medical emphasis and a master of education in vocational rehabilitation counseling and psychiatric and orthopedic concentration from Mississippi State University. In 2007 she earned a Ph.D. in theology from the New Foundation Seminary in Terry, MS. While married to an internationally recognized bluesman she traveled the world exploring and experiencing the culture and foods of numerous other countries, thereby learning to appreciate her own culture and history as an African American southerner. She discovered she had a great and unique heritage people wanted to know more about, especially as it relates to soul food in the South from an African American perspective.
Dr. Willis’ expertise on soul food comes from growing up on a working Mississippi farm where she learned to cook for a family of 15 brothers and sisters as a teenager. Her experiences traveling the world with her bluesman husband have given her a unique perspective and knowledge of other cultures, but more importantly, a better understanding of her own southern history and culture as it relates to soul food, which is valued and appreciated by people throughout the world.
First Regional Library 307 West Commerce St, Hernando, MS 38632-5:30pm
No Cost
Sponsored by First Regional Library & MS Humanities Council
For more information:
David Brown 662-429-4439

The Early Pioneer Setters 1790-1840
2017-02-16 11:35 - 13:35 | Mantachie Elementary School, 311 Mustang Dr, Mantachie, MS, 38855, United States
A living history program about the early pioneer settlers in Mississippi. Discussion centers around how they dressed, built their homes, produced and cooked their food, the use of flintlock rifles for hunting and protection of their homesteads, building fire using flint-and-steel, grinding corn in hollow stumps, children’s homemade toys and music on the mountain dulcimer. Period clothing worn, hands-on artifacts display and audience participation encouraged.
Mr. Arinder has studied Early American and Native American cultures for nearly 50 years, assembling a sizeable collection of artifacts which he uses to leade living history programs for local schools, civic clubs and museums. He volunteers as an interpretive historian with the Natchez Trace Parkway, leading monthly history and pioneer craft demonstrations at the Visitor Center in Tupelo.
Mantachie Elementary School, Mantachie, MS 38855 -11:35am
No Cost
Sponsored by Mantachie Elementary School & MS Humanities Council
For more information:
Margaret Adams 662-842-1406

Southern Wisdom from Delta Church Mothers
2017-02-15 14:00 - 16:00 | Neshoba County Library, 230 W Beacon St, Philadelphia, MS, 39350, United States
Award-winning journalist Alysia Burton Steele’s Delta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom is a visual and lyrical tribute to African American church mothers from the Mississippi Delta. This groundbreaking collection of oral histories and photographs tells nationally and internationally significant stories rooted in the Mississippi Delta, a distinctive region called “The Cradle of American Culture” by the National Park Service and “The Most Southern Place on Earth” by historian James Cobb.The Mississippi Delta produced cotton, Blues music and the Civil Rights Movement. It shaped the lives and contributions of numerous cultural and social justice icons—black and white, women and men—including Fannie Lou Hamer, Eudora Welty, Emmett Till, William Faulkner, Medgar Evers, Richard Wright, Tennessee Williams…and the celebrated Delta Jewels church mothers. Come sit a spell and hear the revered voices of these living figures of history captured by Alysia Burton Steele.
Alysia Burton Steele is a visual educator at the University of Mississippi, with a focus on oral history and visuals. For this presentation, Steele shares her experiences finding and nurturing relationships to earn trust to collect stories and share them with audiences. She shares audio and video stores as part of her presentation.
Neshoba County Library-2pm
No Cost
Sponsored by Neshoba County Library & MS Humanities Council
For more information:
Wayne McNeer – 601-656-4911
