Mississippi Humanities Council

Classical Week 2017 Lecture: "Laughing with the Romans: Plautus Onstage"
2017-09-28 14:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Mississippi State University annual event, sponsored by The Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College. See more information here!

Delta Health Center: America's First Rural Community Health Center and the Struggle for Racial Equity
2017-09-28 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Delta State University, 1003 W Sunflower Rd, Cleveland, MS, 38733, United States

Comfort My Soul: A Celebration of Gospel Music in Southwest Mississippi & Beyond
2017-09-29 09:00 - 2017-09-30 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Come enjoy this two-day gospel music conference and festival celebrating Mississippi’s Bicentennial during the National Gospel Music Heritage Month.
Both days will feature an eclectic mix of performances, workshops, oral histories, speakers, and heritage food will both educate and entertain local residents, students and scholars, and gospel music enthusiasts on the history and role of gospel music over the course of the state’s existence.
Times:
Friday, 09/29 9am-4pm & 7pm-9pm
Saturday, 09/30 9am-4pm

Speakers Bureau: Why We Call It Soul Food
2017-09-29 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Chicago) | Mississippi Cultural Crossroads, 507 Market Street , Port Gibson , MS, 39150, 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.
Brinda Willis is a writer for the Jackson Advocate newspaper and an expert on blues and African American foodways.

MISSISSIPPI ENCYCLOPEDIA EVENT: Starkville
2017-09-29 16:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Book Mart & Cafe, 120 E Main St, Starkville, MS, 39759, United States
A discussion and reading of The Mississippi Encyclopedia, followed by a signing and reception. Speakers will include scholar James Giesen and Senior Editors Ted Ownby and Charles Reagan Wilson.

Celebrating the Legacy of West Jackson's Pioneers
2017-10-02 | COFO Building, 1017 J.R. Lynch St., Jackson, MS
The COFO Mural & Mt. Olive Cemetery project aims to celebrate the rich history of prominent African Americans who have made substantial gains for the state of Mississippi. Individuals who have direct linkages to the West Jackson Community will be featured on the COFO Mural and those persons who final resting place is in Mt. Olive Cemetery will also be highlighted through these programs.
The COFO Mural will feature James Meredith, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, Margaret Walker Alexanders, John R. Lynch, Jessie Mosley and others.
The program will document, interpret, and explore the lives of individuals who are pictures on the mural or buried in the cemetery. These programs will also celebrate our states rich and diverse history, while reflecting on the African American’s experience and highlighting their resiliency.

Speakers Bureau: The Importance of Wearing Shoes
2017-10-03 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | South Mississippi Genealogy & Historical Society, 307 2nd Ave , Hattiesburg , MS
With the identification of hookworm disease in early twentieth century Mississippi, physicians were finally able to identify the characteristic apathy, potbellies, laziness, and general malaise of their numerous patients as indicative of a specific medical condition. Rather than blame the symptoms on socio-economic status, the medical community in the state now could explain the reasons for and the methods of hookworm disease eradication. The impact of this disease and others on Mississippi’s development is an interesting and relevant study which adds to the understanding of Mississippi’s history and culture.
Deanne Stephens Nuwer is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Imagining for the Future: Mississippi History and Culture Bicentennial Celebration at Delta State University
2017-10-04 - 2017-10-06
Three-day celebration of local culture and history, including a poetry slam, juried art show and public lectures, culminating with a public music performance featuring newly commissioned works by Mississippi composers, as well as Mississippi musicians performing a retrospective of Mississippi music.

Mississippi Visual Arts Juried Student Show
2017-10-04 - 2017-10-31

Art Speaker Robin Whitfield
2017-10-04 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Artist and Audubon Master Naturalist; Founder of the Friends of Chackchiuma Swamp Natural Area

Poetry Slam
2017-10-05 20:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
Student-written poetry with Mississippi themes

Carrollton Pilgrimage and Pioneer Day Festival (featuring the new Carrollton Walking Tour App)
2017-10-06 09:00 - 2017-10-07 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Carrollton Town Hall/W, 701 Lexington Street, Carrollton, MS, 38917, United States
Come and tour our beautifully preserved antebellum homes and churches, including the famous Cotesworth! Cotesworth is the home of former United States Senator, J.Z.George. Cotesworth is one of the main locations used in the movie “The Help”.

After your tour, come and join us on the courthouse square for food, music, educational and product tents.

All Historic Homes, Churches
and other Buildings will be open on
Friday, Oct. 6th, & Saturday from 9 am – 5 pm

Adult Tickets $25.00
Student Tickets (grades 1-12) $10

PIONEER DAY FESTIVAL, Saturday | 9am – 5 pm
information at Pilgrimage Headquarters (THE HEADQUARTERS WILL BE IN THE TOWN HALL/WATER DEPARTMENT
ACROSS THE STREET FROM OUR HISTORIC COURTHOUSE.)

EDUCATION EXHIBITS
TRADITIONAL ARTS AND CRAFTS
FOOD VENDORS
LIVE MUSIC

Gala Concert
2017-10-06 19:30 - 21:30 (America/Chicago)
World Premier musical works created by Mississippi composers
Guest artist Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and The Rising Star Fife and Drum Band

“Caching” in on Laurel’s History
2017-10-07 08:00 - 2017-10-09 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Laurel Welcome Center, 401 Central Ave, Laurel, MS, 39440, United States
Geocaching event to engage local fourth and eighth graders with 20 historic sites important to Laurel and Jones County history.

200 Years of Family Fun
2017-10-07 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | HealthWorks!, 219 S. Industrial Road, Tupelo, MS, 38801, United States
A celebration of the history of play in Mississippi. Children and their families will have the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities that they can enjoy at the center and beyond.

HealthWorks! Family Fun Bicentennial Festival
2017-10-07 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | HealthWorks!, 219 S. Industrial Road, Tupelo, MS, 38801, United States

Neshoba County Red Clay Hills Bicentennial Celebration Picnic
2017-10-07 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Northside Park, Hwy 15 N, Philadelphia, MS, 39350, United States
The Neshoba County Red Clay Hills Bicentennial Picnic in Philadelphia, MS featuring 200 years of historic artifacts, fashion, and music from the Fair City Chorale, country music from the Neshoba Musicians Guild and Jeff Stewart with Southbound, and Mississippi Humanities Speaker, Joan McLemore (presenting “They Lived in Mississippi”). Food by the Junction!

*This is a part of a once-in-a-lifetime Mississippi Bicentennial Celebration Series in Neshoba County, Mississippi, USA!

Cora Norman Lecture: Ibram X. Kendi
2017-10-07 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Jackson Planetarium, 201 E. Pascagoula St., Jackson, Mississippi
We are very excited to announce that we are bringing National Book Award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi to deliver our Cora Norman Lecture on October 7th at the Jackson Planetarium!

Voicing Joplin
2017-10-07 19:30 - 22:00 (America/Chicago) | Thalia Mara Hall, 255 E Pascagoula St, Jackson, MS, 39201, United States
Performance of Scott Joplin’s opera “Treemonisha,” about the importance of education, centered on the life of a young former slave woman in the late 19th century who rallies her people to appreciate the value of education, featuring full orchestra on stage, a star-studded cast of national/local singers, and the choirs of Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and Mississippi College.

MPB Broadcast of "The Parchman Ordeal: The Untold Story"
2017-10-08 14:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
The 56-minute documentary will air at 2 p.m. Oct. 8, on MPB Television. See more information here

MS 200 Songwriting Contest Performance
2017-10-10 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Trotter Convention Center, 123 5th Street North, Columbus, MS, 39701
Come watch area musicians perform their songs to vye for “Best Mississippi Song” at this public concert with food and beverages.
The concert is the conclusion of a songwriting contest done in conjunction with Main Street Columbus.

A Celebration of Southern Photography
2017-10-12 18:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg , MS - Mississippi, 39406
This fall, in a special series of events titled, “A Celebration of Southern Photography,” The University of Southern Mississippi will host a lecture by renowned Southern studies expert Dr. William R. Ferris, as well as two exhibitions on campus and a special issue of The Southern Quarterly. The Vicksburg native will give a talk on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. in Gonzales Auditorium, Liberal Arts Building 108 on the Hattiesburg campus of Southern Miss, which will be followed by a reception and book signing at 7 p.m. in the Gallery of Art and Design in the George Hurst Building. The Gallery exhibition, Portraits of Southerners: Photographs from The Do Good Fund, will be open through Nov. 3. Prior to the Ferris lecture, Cook Library Art Gallery will host an opening reception and book signing for Mississippi Landscapes: Places in the Land from 4-5:30 p.m. All events in this celebration are free and open to the public.
The work of several Mississippi artists will be featured in the Mississippi Landscapes: Places in the Land exhibition in Cook Library Art Gallery. Visitors will enjoy photographs of landscapes from Ashleigh Coleman of Jackson, Thomas Pearson of Hattiesburg, Euphus Ruth of Greenville, David Wharton of Oxford, Brooke White of Oxford and Malcolm White of Jackson. Each artist demonstrates his or her personal vision of–and reverence for–special places across Mississippi’s remarkably broad and varied landscape. The Cook Library Art Gallery exhibition will run through Dec. 12 and will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Images in the Portraits of Southerners exhibition have been chosen from the Do Good Fund’s collection of southern photography. Since its founding in 2012, the Georgia-based charity has focused on building a museum-quality collection of photographs taken in the American South since World War II. According to their website, Do Good’s mission is “to make its collection of over 400 images broadly accessible through regional museums, nonprofit galleries and nontraditional venues, and to encourage complementary, community-based programming to accompany each exhibition.” The exhibition, sponsored by the Department of Art and Design and College of Art and Letters is open during normal gallery hours, Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. through Nov. 3.
William Ferris’s lecture, “The South in Color: A Visual Journey,” will open the Portraits of Southerners exhibit and will surely interest Southern culture enthusiasts near and far. Ferris, a widely recognized leader in Southern studies, African American music and folklore, is the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the senior associate director of its Center for the Study of the American South.
The Ferris lecture is co-sponsored by the College of Arts and Letters, the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, the Center for the Study of the Gulf South, The Southern Quarterly, the Department of Art and Design, University Forum, the Arts Institute of Mississippi and the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Coahoma Community College's MS Delta Tennessee Williams 25th Anniversary Celebration
2017-10-13 - 2017-10-14 | Clarksdale Historic Downtown District
Coahoma Community College is combining a celebration of Mississippi’s Bicentennial with the Tennessee William’s 25th anniversary in an innovative showcase of Mississippi and Clarksdale’s diverse histories that influenced its native son and great America playwright.
Friday, October 13th–Tour of Clarksdale’s Downtown Historic District
This tour will feature lectures by local scholars as well as site visits and plays.

Mississippi's Craft Heritage Event
2017-10-14 10:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Mississippi Craft Center, 950 Rice Road , Ridgeland , MS , 39157

Fulton Cemetery Historical Stroll
2017-10-15 | Fulton Cemetery, Fulton, MS, United States
Come find out more about Fulton’s past through experiencing one of its historic treasures: the Fulton Cemetery.
Local historians will give an introduction to the history of the cemetery. Guests can then take a “historical stroll” through the cemetery and visit with those buried there! (Volunteer reenactors will be dressed in period costumes, detailing interesting facts and stories at their respective tombstones.)

Lower Delta Talk Series
2017-10-17 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago) | Sharkey Issaquena County Library, 116 Robert Morganfield Way, Rolling Fork, MS, 39159
The Lower Delta Speakers Series includes a variety of folks who will speak on a topic of interest each month, topics that tell great Mississippi stories focused on our region of the Mississippi Delta and that help explain the important role the Delta plays in regards to the entire state of Mississippi. Some of the topics included in the 2017 will include People and their Stories, History, and Culture, Food and the Outdoors.
August 15th- James Matthews
September 19th- Richard Grant
October 17th- Cathy Shropshire
November 14th- Willy Bearden

Through the Lens of Carl Brown
2017-10-19 09:00 - 12:00 UTC | Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, 314 7th St N, Columbus, MS, 39701, United States
More than 15,000 photographic negatives and prints taken by Columbus photographer Carl Brown were recently donated to the Local History Department at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library. The images, dating roughly from the 1950s to the 1980s, cover a wide variety of subjects including weddings, family portraits, events, businesses and people. The processing of the photographs will be a lengthy undertaking due to the abundant size of the collection.
The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library will hold a public preserving workshop on October 19th,2017 from 9am-12pm. The exhibit will be open to the public starting April 2-14, 2018.
Columbus-Lowndes Public Library
No Cost
Sponsored by Columbus-Lowndes Public Library & MS Humanities Council
For more information:
Mona Vance-Ali 662-329-5304

The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library workshop: “Preserving Family Photographs”
2017-10-19 09:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Columbus-Lowndes Public Library, 314 7th St N, Columbus, MS, 39701, United States
The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library is hosting a workshop titled “Preserving Family Photographs” on Thursday, October 19th from 9am-12pm.
The workshop will teach participants how to identify various historic photographic formats and processes. It will also instruct on how to properly handle, store, and preserve one’s family photographic treasures.
Participants are encouraged to bring up to three family photographs, negatives, or films that they would like to have evaluated by a conservator.
Kim R. Du Boise, the Senior Conservator and President of PhotoArts Imaging Professionals, will be conducting the workshop. She is a peer-reviewed Professional Associate in the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. Du Boise has worked in art and photography for over forty years while developing coursework and workshops for teaching photography and photographic processes. For more information about PhotoArts Imaging Labs visit www.photoartsimaging.com.
The workshop has been made possible through a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council and support from the Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library.
Seating is limited. Register for free at 662-329-5304 or by email at mvance@lowndes.lib.ms.us by October 17th.

Native American Days 2017
2017-10-25 09:00 - 2017-10-27 14:00 (America/Chicago) | Winterville Mounds Park and Museum, 2415 Highway 1 North, Greenville, MS, 38703, United States
Three-day celebration of Southeastern Native American and colonial-era Euro American cultures in Mississippi, including traditional dance, song and storytelling presentations by Native Americans, colonial-era food, arts and crafts, Native American games and ancient weapons demonstrations. October 25-27.

A Bicentennial Celebration Recounting Unheard Voices
2017-10-26 | Meridian High School, 2320 32nd St, Meridian, MS, 39305, United States
Come see a theatrical performance that highlights Meridian’s 157 years. The performance will feature student actors and dancers, and incorporate music and enlarged vintage photos.
There will be a community celebration of the State’s Bicentennial year as well as a living gallery walk after the performance.
Enjoy live music provided by the Meridian High School Jazz Band.
(This performance and celebration are the culmination of the humanities project, A Bicentennial Celebration Recounting Unheard Voices: Students Breathe Life into Meridian’s Rare Historical Photos.)
