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Mississippi Humanities Council Newsletter - November/December 2019
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Executive Director's Message
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Dr. Stuart Rockoff
Executive Director |
At the end of each year, nonprofit organizations ask their supporters to make donations to help them continue their work. Indeed, as I write this, the MHC's "year-end mailing" is being printed and sent. When trying to decide what to feature in our year-end ask, I went against the conventional wisdom that people don't like to donate in support of grants. I strongly believe that the programs we support with our grants are often powerful, transformative, and get to the heart of our mission.
In our letter, I wrote about some of the programs that we support with our grants. I tell the story of "Wade through the Water," a play based on the experience of Andrew and Mary Lou Hawkins, who fought for civil rights in their small Delta town of Shaw through a federal lawsuit over the unequal distribution of civic resources. The idea for the play grew out of conversations we had with Shaw community leaders who wanted to tell and preserve this important local story. Through our grants, we were able to support bringing in StoryWorks to conduct oral histories
and research and create a dramatic account of the Hawkins' fight for equal rights. After the performance in Shaw last month, a panel of civil rights activists, including the attorneys who brought the case, Reuben Anderson and Melvyn Leventhal, reflected on the bravery of the Hawkins family and the continuing impact of their activism.
For the past several years, we have supported the Behind the Big House program in Holly Springs, which offers tours of extant slave dwellings in conjunction with tours of the town's antebellum homes. Visitors and school children flock to the program to learn about the experience and hardships of the enslaved people who worked in these grand homes. The Behind the Big House program in Holly Springs has become a nationally recognized model, and we have been working behind the scenes to bring it to Natchez, another Mississippi community wrestling with the issue of accurate and inclusive historical interpretation. With a recent grant, we are very excited to help bring Behind the Big House to Natchez in 2020. This is yet another example how the Mississippi Humanities Council, through its grants program, has helped communities better understand their past while inspiring them to reshape their future.
This summer, we were very excited to fund the "Academy Stories" website, which has attracted national attention and acclaim for its effort to collect honest stories of those who attended segregation academies in the wake of forced school integration in 1970. See the article below for more details about this important project.
The Mississippi Humanities Council was founded on the idea that these local Mississippi stories are important and that an honest account of our sometimes difficult past can help us move forward as a state. Through our accessible grants, the Humanities Council empowers local communities to do this crucial work.
With all of these programs, we consulted with the organizers beforehand. We take pride in being an accessible grantmaker. We talk with people about their idea and help them hone it into a strong proposal we can support. The Mississippi Humanities Council was founded on the idea that these local Mississippi stories are important and that an honest account of our sometimes difficult past can help us move forward as a state. Through our accessible grants, the Humanities Council empowers local communities to do this crucial work.
With a staff of only five full-time employees and a relatively small budget, we are able to leverage our resources to help Mississippians tell their important and often overlooked stories. And so, as appropriate, I end this message with a humble request for support: your donation to the Mississippi Humanities Council helps us to fund more important programs around the state. It enables us to work closely with communities to bring the tools and insights of the humanities to people across Mississippi.
Thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you in 2020.
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Nominations Invited for Humanities Awards
The Mississippi Humanities Council invites nominations for its 2020 Public Humanities Achievement Awards, which honor outstanding contributions in the arena of public humanities.
Nominations will be accepted for Humanities Scholar Award, Preserver of Mississippi Culture Award, Humanities Partner Award, Educator Award, and Cora Norman Award.
The Council began issuing Achievement Awards in 1993 to recognize persons who have supported the Council's work through public programs across the state based in the branches of learning concerned with human thought and relations, such as history, literature, culture, values and ideas. All Mississippians are invited to make nominations for these awards. Nominations are reviewed by a panel, which selects the year's awardees.
"The Public Humanities Achievement Awards bring statewide attention to individuals or institutions in Mississippi that have made significant contributions to the humanities or who have led exceptional public humanities programming in Mississippi," said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council.
All awards will be presented at the Mississippi Humanities Council's 2020 Public Humanities Awards Gala and Ceremony Friday, March 27, 2020, at the Old Capitol Museum in Jackson. Recipients of the 2020 Humanities Teacher Awards, which pay tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields, will also be honored at the banquet.
Nomination forms for Public Humanities Awards may be found online at www.mshumanities.org. For information call 601-432-6752.
Learn More
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MHC Hosts Final Ideas on Tap of the Year
On December 10, the MHC will host the final Ideas on Tap of 2019 with a program focused on the people of Mississippi. The program is the third and final in a fall series that addresses various aspects of American identity.
The December 10 program, "Ideas on Tap: Who is Mississippi?" will examine Mississippi's demographic and economic profile. Discussion will focus on who lives here and why, the brain drain, the role of women in Mississippi's economy, the rural/urban divide, and more.
Panelists include Dr. John Green, director of the University of Mississippi's Center for Population Studies; Ercilla Dometz-Hendrix, policy analyst for the office of the state economist and the University Research Center; and Tracy DeVries, executive director of the Women's Foundation of Mississippi.
For more information on the program, visit the
event page.
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MHC Partners Receive Grants to Offer College Courses for Incarcerated Students
The Prison Writes Initiative (PWI) and the Prison-to-College Pipeline, two longtime partners of the Mississippi Humanities Council (MHC), have received grants from the Laughing Gull Foundation, a family foundation based in Durham, N.C., and operating in the southeastern U.S. to increase access to credit-bearing college courses for incarcerated students. The grants will support these two organizations' work to expand course offerings in Mississippi prison facilities.
"We are delighted to receive this support for our work to provide educational opportunities for students living within the penal system in Mississippi," said Louis Bourgeois, founder and executive director of the PWI. "We know, according to the National Reentry Resource Center, that at least 95 percent of people incarcerated in state prisons will be released back to their communities at some point, and according to data from the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, 65 percent of jobs in the United States will require some form of postsecondary education by the year 2020. It is the Prison Writes Initiative's aim to equip these returning residents with that education."
The MHC will serve as the fiscal agent for the PWI project. Bourgeois acknowledged the important role the MHC has played in supporting the PWI through its start-up years and for raising awareness of the deep importance of providing humanities engagement for citizens living within the limitations of a prison environment. "The Humanities Council was among the first organizations in our state to recognize-and to affirm-the humanity and potential of incarcerated people."
With these programs, incarcerated students are able to take college courses and receive credits from the University of Mississippi, Mississippi College, and Hinds Community College. With the grant from the Laughing Gull Foundation, PWI and the MHC plan to expand its partnership with Mississippi community colleges to offer core courses at Mississippi prisons.
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MHC Awards $60,000 in Regular Grants
The Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to announce more than $60,000 in grants to 11 Mississippi organizations in support of public humanities programs. In addition to this direct support, each agency was required to present matching cash or in-kind cost share, pledging an additional $60,000 to humanities programming around our state. The humanities programs funded in this major round support projects exploring the literary value of graphic novels, women's suffrage, slavery, midwifery, and growing up female in the Mississippi Delta.
Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, said, "We are pleased to support such a diverse array of programs in communities throughout our state. Each of the funded projects offers opportunities for Mississippians to consider different perspectives, share ideas, and understand one another better."
Humanities grants are awarded to Mississippi nonprofit organizations in support of programs that foster the public's understanding of our rich history and culture.
"The Mississippi Humanities Council continues to be excited about the number of creative and exciting programs supported by our grants," said Council Board Chair Dr. Wilma Mosley Clopton. "Through our grants programs, we continue to support Mississippi communities that wish to provide programming which most effectively engages all audiences in civil discourse opportunities.
"We feel that each community can best serve as its own catalyst for change. Through our grants program, we offer these communities our continued support, and look forward to expanding our partnerships to include all areas of the state; after all, the Humanities are for everyone."
The organizations and projects that were awarded grants, listed by community, include:
Greenville:
Community Foundation of Washington County--$6,700.00
Girls Write the World Documentary
Filmmaking project for young women in the Mississippi Delta, to portray their life experiences through film and poetry.
The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County--$3,117.32
Will Eisner and the Graphic Novel
Series of public engagements around an exhibit featuring the work of renowned graphic novel artist Will Eisner.
Holly Springs:
Preserve Marshall County & Holly Springs, Inc.-$7,232.54
Behind the Big House program & tour (2020)
Educational tour of former slave dwellings, and related programs, offered either during or very close to an annual pilgrimage of historic homes in Holly Springs, to provide visitors to that community with a more complete narrative of its history.
International Museum of Muslim Cultures--$3,500.00
Bridging Cultures: Working for Equity across Race, Class, Religion, and Ethnicity
Series of public engagements around a new exhibit entitled "Muslims with Christians and Jews: An Exhibition of Covenants and Coexistence."
New Hope Baptist Church--$4,000.00
"Back in the Day" Black History Celebration
Annual Black History Month programs, featuring historical perspectives on the African American experience in Mississippi, from slavery through Civil Rights and contemporary times.
Jackson State University--$7,500.00
50th Recollection and Commemoration of Gibbs-Green
Annual commemoration of the deaths of two Jackson State University students at a campus dormitory the evening of a student demonstration condemning racial discrimination in Mississippi and the killing of four students at Kent State University by the Ohio National Guard.
Scott Ford House, Inc.--$5,000.00
Presenting Regional Perspectives of Mississippi: From Jim Crow to Civil Rights
Four regional programs, in each of the state's four congressional districts, sharing progress to date in the applicant's ongoing effort to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of midwifery in Mississippi.
Natchez:
Historic Natchez Foundation--$7,000.00
Slave Dwelling Project-Natchez
Weekend-long programs illuminating the experience of enslaved people in Natchez, featuring Joseph McGill of the award-winning Slave Dwelling Project.
Copiah-Lincoln Community College--$3,750.00
Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration 2020-"Visits, Vittles & Vines: The Culture of Southern Hospitality"
Annual festival exploring southern history and culture through film and books. The 2020 event will focus on southern hospitality, highlighting Natchez's cultural traditions around food, gardens and entertainment.
Oxford:
University of Mississippi--$7,134.00
The Twenty-Seventh Oxford Conference for the Book
Annual event celebrating books, reading and writing. The 2020 conference will feature programs celebrating postbellum radical women thinkers, discussions on environmental literature, poetry sessions, a literary examination of class struggle, and more.
League of Women Voters of MS, Inc.--$7,500.00
Bridge Builders and Burners: 100 Years of Woman in a Southern State
Series of "micro-messaged documentaries" to air on MPB throughout 2020 exploring woman suffrage in Mississippi and the South, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of both the passage of the 19th Amendment and the founding of the League of Women Voters.
Learn More
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MHC Minigrant Helps Create 'The Academy Stories' Project
Earlier this year, the MHC awarded a minigrant to journalist Ellen Ann Fentress to support her groundbreaking "The Academy Stories" project. Fentress' idea to collect first-hand experiences from students who attended segregation academies in the wake of forced school integration in 1970 grew out of her own personal essay "
Are You a Seg Academy Alum Too? Let's Talk" published on the Bitter Southerner website earlier this year.
The Academy Stories
website launched this fall with accounts from six different writers as well as historical context from project scholar Dr. Dave Tell. Fentress' goal is to inspire others to share their own experiences attending segregation academies through the website, which will grow as it documents an often overlooked chapter of recent southern history.
"As many of these private schools celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2020, it's important to remember the forces that created them. The Academy Stories project offers powerful first-hand testimony of the origins and early years of these schools, and raises difficult questions about the continuing challenge of school integration in Mississippi," said Stuart Rockoff, MHC executive director. "We hope the website is just the first phase of a project that continues to address this crucial topic."
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Capturing the Coast: Chauncey Hinman and the Tourism Industry
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Photo by Chauncey Hinman
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The Local History and Genealogy Department of Biloxi Public Library recently received a donation of over 36,000 negatives of weddings, events, families, land aerials, and historic buildings by photographer Chauncey Hinman.
Hinman (1913-1989) was a commercial photographer most active in the 1950s-60s, when he worked for
Down South magazine
. Hinman's work documents the advances that transformed the Mississippi Gulf Coast economy from seafoood industry-centric to tourism-focused.
Through a grant from the MHC, E.W. Suarez,
research assistant and lead conservator of the Hinman Collection, was able to acquire the necessary materials to properly house the negatives and other items in the collection. The grant also allowed the entire collection to be digitized.
"The Hinman image collection significantly expands our image holdings at the Local History and Genealogy Department," said Saurez, "These long sequestered images provide proof of our past, which can be utilized in several ways. For example, we shared images from the collection with the Mississippi Land Trust. Their restoration of the Bayou Auguste tidal marsh is a continuing project, and Hinman's images show its previous natural features before the decades of landfill."
Capturing the Coast: Chauncey Hinman and the Tourism Industry Exhibition and Discussion is what developed from the Hinman Collection. The images selected for the exhibit depict the various aspects of the tourism industry along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, including employees, attractions, historic buildings, and even a medical clinic.
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Biloxi Public Library
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A panel discussion will take place during the exhibit's opening reception at the Biloxi Public Library, and will feature E.W. Suarez, Dr. Deanne Stephens, and Jeff Rosenberg. The panel will focus on Hinman's career and his place in the success of the Coast's tourism industry.
Capturing the Coast opens Wednesday, December 11, at 5:30 p.m.
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Families read along during a weekly Luciérnagas session at the Horn Lake public library.
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MHC Wraps up Horn Lake Luciérnagas Family Reading Program
For more than ten consecutive years, the M.R. Dye Public Library in Horn Lake has hosted the MHC's bilingual Luciérnagas family reading program for Hispanic families in DeSoto County. The program returned to Horn Lake again this fall to serve families with reading, discussion, information about community services, and even a mariachi band performance!
Through the hard work and dedication of the library's staff and project coordinator Carson Culver, the Luciérnagas program at Horn Lake has grown consistently over the years. This year, more than 20 families participated in the programs, with nearly 30 parents and over 50 children present during each week's sessions.
Luciérnagas uses bilingual and culturally diverse children's books to engage families with storytelling and discussion. The program encourages families to read together and to relate humanities-based themes like bravery and determination to their own lives.
The Horn Lake Luciérnagas program is supported by generous grants from the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi and the Mississippi Arts Commission.
Luciérnagas is a part of the MHC's Family Reading Project. For more information or to learn how to host a family reading program in your community, visit our
website.
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Coming Up: Humanities Programs Sponsored by MHC
Making and Unmaking Mass Incarceration
December 4-6, 2019
Oxford, MS
The Making and Unmaking Mass Incarceration (MUMI) Conference will bring together scholars, activists, policymakers, lawyers, students, and Mississippians to better understand the history of mass incarceration and shape the future of prison abolition.
Bridging Cultures: Islam and the Discovery of Freedom
December 12, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
International Museum of Muslim Cultures, Jackson
A Conversation exploring Prophet Muhammad's liberating theology and its impact on the American Revolution. Speakers include
Dr. Imad Ad-Dean Ahmad (
Minaret of Freedom Institute),
Imam Rashad Sharif (
Masjid Al Mu'minun),
Aneesah Dawan
(activist scholar),
and Dr. Steve Smith, facilitator (Millsaps College.)
Transportation Development along the MS Gulf Coast: Repurposing for the Future
January 8, 2020, 6:30 p.m.
West Harrison Civic Center, Long Beach
A reception exhibiting an oral history project (and honoring citizens who played vital roles) surrounding the rehabilitation of the Gulfport Library building after Hurricane Katrina destroyed it in 2005.
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