Join us for a night of fun, culture and inspiration!

Time is running out! The countdown is on for our 2024 MHC Public Humanities Awards Ceremony. Don't miss out on the chance to be part of this special event honoring excellence in public humanities.

Purchase your tickets today!

MHC 2024 Partner Award winner, LaShetta Wilder, who is director of education for the Mississippi Department of Corrections, shares about the importance of higher education in prison.

Evidence shows higher education in prison has a significant impact on those who are incarcerated. Beginning July 2024, the FAFSA Simplification Act allows incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals to apply for Pell Grants. By expanding higher education in prisons, families are transformed and communities are improved.

Through Pell and other funders, such as the Mississippi Humanities Council, colleges have increased access to higher education in prison. With these opportunities, students are more enthusiastic about bettering their futures.

Now, colleges and universities across the state are interested in providing Prison Education Programs (PEP) within prisons. Through Pell, funds cover tuition as well as provide an opportunity for an educational pathway while in prison.

Aside from financial considerations, Pell reinstatement is meaningful for imprisoned students because it allows them to feel more human. They are seen as scholars and some even become honor students. They are making an impact within the prisons as well as their families.

Executive Director's Message

The Power of Stories

Last week, I made a quick trip to Washington, D.C. for the Federation of State Humanities Council’s annual “Humanities on the Hill” event. I had the chance to meet with members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation to make the case for the importance of federal funding for state humanities councils. Perhaps it’s because Mississippi is a small state or maybe it’s our storytelling tradition, but my short presentations usually focused on stories rather than data.

I was excited to talk about our bringing the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” to Rolling Fork while that community is still working to recover from last year’s devastating tornado, and how the impending arrival of the exhibit in Pontotoc inspired the town to fix up the community meeting house that will be hosting it. I told the story of our years of work with folks in Grenada to help preserve the history of their traumatic school integration crisis, which culminated in the dedication of a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker earlier this year. 

Each of our winners has a compelling story to tell, and I am always moved by their speeches. It promises to be a powerful evening, and I invite you to join us.

I described how the MHC has helped the Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum in Gulfport ever since its opening in 2021, and how our recent minigrant funded a public program about pioneering aviator Bessie Coleman that drew a large crowd during Black History Month. I talked a lot about our partnership with New Stage Theatre on the play “Anne & Emmett,” which we are bringing to school groups across the state and fostering important discussions about the dangers of hatred and dehumanization. I also described the impact of our prison education programs on both students and instructors and the power of the humanities to change lives. While it was an exhausting day on Capitol Hill, it was also energizing, as telling our story (six different times!) reiterated for me the importance of the Council’s work.

While last week our members of Congress had the opportunity to express their support for the MHC, this week you have a chance to do the same. On March 22, we will hold our annual Public Humanities Awards ceremony at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. It is the only event we offer throughout the year that has an admission fee. The $50 ticket cost goes to support the Council and all the programs I talked about during Humanities on the Hill. Each of our winners has a compelling story to tell, and I am always moved by their speeches. It promises to be a powerful evening, and I invite you to join us. Tickets can still be purchased here. Thank you, as always, for your support of the MHC.

Dr. Stuart Rockoff

MHC Executive Director

Headlines

MHC Spring Grant Deadline is May 1

The Mississippi Humanities Council is now accepting grant applications for its May 1 deadline for public humanities projects and programs with budgets between $2,501 and $10,000. 

MHC grants support Mississippi cultural organizations in creating experiences that stimulate meaningful community dialogue, attract diverse audiences, are participatory and engaging and apply the humanities to our everyday lives. Grants may be used to support public humanities programs, exhibits, the planning of larger projects and the development of original productions in radio, podcasts or online resources.

All interested applicants are encouraged to schedule a consultation with our grants director, Carol Andersen, prior to completing an application.



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Mississippians in the Vietnam War Exhibit

The Mississippi Aviation Heritage Museum continues to expand and tell the story of Mississippi Aviation, with a new upcoming exhibit entitled “Mississippians in the Vietnam War.” The Mississippi Humanities Council awarded a $10,000 grant to the museum to create the exhibit, which aims to illustrate the influence Mississippi had in the Vietnam war.

The new exhibit will include five gallery spaces: Mississippi's Impact in Vietnam; A Vietnam View of the War; Mississippi POW Pilots; the Music of the Times; and Vietnam Contributions to Mississippi. 

The Mississippi POW Pilots gallery will tell the stories of the 16 Mississippi pilots who were incarcerated during the Vietnam war. Another gallery will feature approximately 40 historical photographs illustrating Mississippi’s involvement in the Vietnam War.



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Crossroads in Rolling Fork

The Smithsonian traveling exhibition “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” has opened at its fifth Mississippi host site in Rolling Fork The Lower Delta Partnership is hosting the exhibit at 35 Walnut Street, thanks to the help and generous donation of space from a local business owner.

On March 24, 2023, Rolling Fork was devastated by an EF4 tornado that destroyed or damaged much of the city, including the Sharkey Issequena County Library which was originally set to host the exhibit. LDP coordinator, Meg Cooper, stated that “immediately after the tornado, many people told me that it would be best if I cancelled plans to host the exhibit scheduled for the following March. I just kept saying a lot can happen in 11 months, let’s wait and see.”

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Behind the Big House 2024

The nationally recognized Behind the Big House tour, an annual public event in Holly Springs, will continue in 2024. The event spans four days, April 3-6, and will take place at the Craft property at 184 S. Memphis Street. The property includes the 1847 living quarters and kitchen built for enslaved Africans and the 1851 family home of Hugh and Elizabeth Craft.

“Our goal is that visitors to this program will gain further understanding and appreciation for African American history in northern Mississippi, claim the responsibility to preserve and promote this history and culture, and based on this shared knowledge, will work to achieve a more equitable and improved quality of life for current and future generations,”

-Sally Goddard of the Rosa Foundation

Now in its twelfth year, the program will highlight the history and culture of enslaved Africans in northern Mississippi through public tours facilitated by experienced historical interpreters who will address the daily lives and work of enslaved adults and children, a narrative that has often been overlooked. Scholars from the humanities will be onsite to provide tour-goers context about the era of slavery and emancipation and the influence of this history on contemporary Mississippi.

The Behind the Big House program was founded in 2012 by Chelius Carter and Jenifer Eggleston under the administration of the community nonprofit, Preserve Marshall County and Holly Springs. Through the ongoing collaboration of diverse residents of north Mississippi, scholars of several disciplines from University of Mississippi and Rust College, and visiting experts from around the country, BTBH has entered its second decade. 

In May 2022, the Rosa Foundation, a nonprofit family foundation based in Oregon, acquired ownership of the Craft property. In addition to continuing the annual Behind the Big House program, the foundation is in the process of making physical improvements to the two dwellings on the property to provide better access and greater usable space for community groups. The foundation has also secured grant funding to train docents and create informational handouts so the Craft property can be available to the public throughout the year for educational and cultural events.

The Mississippi Humanities Council has contributed guidance and grant support for the event for several years.

Up next: "Hollow Tree " April 14th at the Two Mississippi Museums

Hollow Tree follows three teenagers coming of age in their sinking homeland of Louisiana. For the first time, they notice the Mississippi River’s engineering, stumps of cypress trees, and billowing smokestacks. Their different perspectives — as Indigenous, white and Angolan young women — shape their story of the climate crisis.

Stick around after the movie for panel discussion.



Sunday Screenings are always free and open to the public.

Hollow Tree Trailer

Part of the Southern Circuit, this program is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Film Office.

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