A Year Reflecting Mississippi | |
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It’s been an extraordinary year for the Mississippi Humanities Council. A year ago, we announced our 50th anniversary theme of “Reflecting Mississippi,” and spent the past twelve months exploring how to tell honest and inclusive stories that accurately reflect who we are as a state.
We funded several projects with special “Reflecting Mississippi” grants. In Tupelo, we supported a public program that looked at the impact of the catastrophic 1936 tornado on the city’s Black community. Much was written at the time about the White neighborhoods that were destroyed, but the local newspaper didn’t even list the names of the Black citizens who died. This program helped tell a fuller story of one of our state’s worst natural disasters. We funded the extraordinary documentary “Fannie Lou Hamer’s America,” enabling the filmmakers to pay the footage fees to have the film broadcast on national public television. Seeing the Humanities Council logo fill the screen after the list of major national funders was one of my favorite memories of 2022!
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In May, we welcomed Mississippi’s greatest living writer, Jesmyn Ward, who delivered an extraordinary address about the narratives she struggled to overcome to find her voice. It was one of the most powerful and memorable programs the Council has ever sponsored.
While the occasion of our 50th anniversary gave us an opportunity to look back, I am also proud of the new initiatives we launched in 2022. Our Prison Book Clubs are now reaching three different facilities and we have plans to offer twenty different book club series for incarcerated readers at five different prisons next year.
This year we also took on responsibility for the next phase of the Mississippi Freedom Trail, engaging scholars and communities to tell our state’s vital civil rights stories. Over the next two years, we will help dedicate over 20 new Freedom Trail markers, while using our grants, speakers bureau, and other programs to help communities amplify their impact.
Inspired by the National Endowment for the Humanities’ “More Perfect Union” initiative, we created a free traveling exhibit called “Mississippi Founders” that highlights twelve Mississippians who fought to bring true democracy to our state. Because the demand was so high for it, we created two sets, which will continue to tour throughout Mississippi in 2023.
Working with our friends at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, we created the Mississippi Museum Conference, which offered practical and inspiring sessions to help our state’s small museums thrive and engage with their communities. Representatives from over 80 different cultural organizations attended the free conference.
We also collaborated with our partners in higher education and reentry organizations to create the Mississippi Consortium for Higher Education in Prisons. The MHC is taking the lead in bringing together community colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and the Department of Corrections to create a program for offering college courses to incarcerated students. We are ecstatic that a new major grant from the Mellon Foundation will sustain this work for the next three years.
Our staff grew as well with the hiring of Kam Ridley, our first-ever communications manager. Our focus has long been on “doing the work,” but now Kam will be able to help us tell our story better and highlight the impact of the humanities in Mississippi.
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As we come to the close of a very busy 2022, I urge you to consider making a donation to the Mississippi Humanities Council. With your support, we can continue celebrating our state’s rich culture and nurturing a history that truly reflects Mississippi.
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2023 Public Humanities Award Winners Announced
The Mississippi Humanities Council has announced the winners of its 2023 Public Humanities Awards recognizing outstanding work in preserving and sharing Mississippi’s unique history and culture. The awards ceremony will be held March 24, 2023, at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson. Tickets can be purchased online.
Jeanne Luckett, a leader in public humanities in Mississippi for over 50 years, will receive the Cora Norman Award which recognizes lifetime achievement in the humanities. Luckett, a former Mississippi Humanities Council board chair, has worked on countless humanities projects over the years. She was very involved in the beginning years of Mississippi Educational Television (MPB today); Luckett developed the exhibits about Medgar and Myrlie Evers at the Evers House and the Jackson airport and coordinated the 50th anniversary commemoration of the Freedom Rides. She has developed exhibits for the 18th century LaPointe-Krebs House in Pascagoula and exhibits for the International Museum of Muslim Cultures in Jackson. She has worked with the Eudora Welty Foundation for several years and is an active researcher and writer for the Mississippi Freedom Trail.
Also being honored for their outstanding contributions to Mississippi humanities:
Humanities Scholar Award– Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi. Dr. Tuuri is the scholar for the Smithsonian exhibit “Voices & Votes: Democracy in America," currently traveling the state. She worked closely with all six host sites creating unique presentations for each. Dr. Tuuri is also a popular member of the MHC speaker’s bureau and serves on the scholars committee for both the Mississippi Freedom Trail and the More Perfect Union project.
Humanities Educator– Dr. Ebony Lumumba, associate professor of English and chair of the Department of English, Foreign Languages, & Speech Communication at Jackson State University. This award recognizes Dr. Lumumba’s outstanding work leading the MHC’s book discussion program at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Dr. Lumumba has deeply engaged the men in the works of Mississippi writer Jesmyn Ward. Due to the success of her teaching, the prison book club program is now expanding to other facilities across the state.
Humanities Partner– Dr. Roscoe Barnes, cultural heritage tourism manager at Visit Natchez. Dr. Barnes has been a vital partner of the MHC, making connections with African American museums and community organizations in Natchez. At least six different MHC grants can be linked to Barnes’ partnership. He has encouraged the Dr. John Banks House, the Rhythm Night Club Memorial Museum and the Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture to apply for MHC grants. Once those grants were awarded, he wrote press releases that have been widely carried in the media, always highlighting the impact of the MHC. Like the MHC, Roscoe is a behind-the-scenes connector whose partnership has greatly expanded the Council’s work in southwest Mississippi.
Reflecting Mississippi Award– Utica Institute Museum. The team at Hinds Community College-Utica has done an outstanding job of preserving and telling the story of William Holtzclaw and the Utica Institute, which was established in 1903 to educate rural Black Mississippians. The project has received two major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and multiple grants from the MHC to create the museum on campus, develop an exhibit about the Utica Jubilee Singers, and hold public humanities programs for their campus and Utica community.
The MHC will also recognize 30 recipients of the 2023 Humanities Teacher Awards, which pay tribute to outstanding faculty in traditional humanities fields at each of our state’s institutions of higher learning.
The Council invites everyone to join them at their 2023 Public Humanities Awards ceremony and reception March 24, 2023, at 5:30 p.m. at the Two Mississippi Museums.
Tickets for the Mississippi Humanities Council Public Humanities Awards ceremony and reception are $50 each and may be purchased through the MHC website or by sending a check to the Mississippi Humanities Council, 3825 Ridgewood Road, Room 317, Jackson, MS 39211.
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MHC Receives $1.13 Million in Funding to Support Higher Education in Mississippi Prisons
The Mississippi Humanities Council is pleased to announce a $1,131,000.00 grant from the Mellon Foundation to support higher education in Mississippi prisons over the next three years.
Working through college and university partners, the Council will fund college humanities courses and student academic support for Mississippians who are incarcerated. To further promote this work, the Mellon grant helps launch the Mississippi Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (MCHEP).
The award begins the second phase of the Mississippi Humanities Council Prison Education program. In 2021, a two-year $375,000 Mellon grant allowed the Council to sponsor three community colleges to teach for-credit humanities courses in prisons. This new grant will support courses taught by at least seven different community colleges and universities.
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The Council’s original prison program reimbursed schools so they could offer courses without charging tuition. Beginning in July 2023, colleges can apply to offer prison education programs where students can pay for courses using federally funded Pell grants. Once students have access to financial aid, the Mellon award will enable schools to expand academic support related to the humanities, such as writing labs, student readiness workshops, and expansion of library resources.
Under the new Pell requirements, prison education programs must provide support services comparable to what students on a college’s primary campus receive. “The Council is excited to help colleges equip these students with the skills they need to succeed academically, ” said MHC Prison Education Coordinator Carla Falkner.
The second Mellon grant also provides financial support for MCHEP for the next three years, including the hiring of a director. To establish a statewide consortium, the Humanities Council secured a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Laughing Gull Foundation. Under the leadership of consultant Dr. Stephanie Gaskill, the Humanities Council partnered with the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, the Mississippi Community College Board and the Woodward Hines Education Foundation to launch the organization this year.
"Creating a statewide system to better serve currently and formerly incarcerated students requires staff capacity and resources beyond what individual programs can offer,” said Gaskill. “With funding from the Mellon Foundation, MCHEP can establish the leadership necessary to advance statewide work while also providing direct support to students and programs."
Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of MHC stressed the significance of this grant, “When we received the first Mellon grant, we said the ultimate goal is to help create a sustained statewide program of community college education in our state’s prison facilities. With this second grant, we are making major strides towards meeting that goal.”
To make sure humanities programming stays strong in the prisons, the grant also funds extra-curricular book clubs. These clubs will be led by a scholar with the Council providing each member a copy of a book that reflects the humanities and encourages discussion.
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MHC Welcomes First Communications Manager
The MHC is delighted to introduce the Council's first communications manager, Kam Ridley. Kam is a Jackson native, educated in the Jackson Public School district during her primary years and receiving her B.A. from the University of Southern Mississippi. Immediately upon graduating, Kam began her journalism career at 16 WAPT News in Jackson starting as an unpaid intern and working her way through the ranks to win an Emmy Award for her work during Hurricane Katrina as a producer and reporter. She is also an award- winning artist and published photographer. Kam is thrilled to serve the citizens of Mississippi and tell the amazing story of our state’s humanities council and the people it serves.
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MHC Increases Minigrant Maximum to $2,500
The Mississippi Humanities Council has increased the upper limit for its minigrants from $2,000 to $2,500, effective November 1. Minigrant proposals are accepted on a rolling basis, with applications due at least four weeks before the start of the proposed project or event.
The MHC minigrants program supports projects 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 film, television, radio or online resources. The Council also offers special grants to support oral history projects around the state.
Applicants are encouraged to contact Carol Andersen before submitting project drafts.
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Last Chance to See Voices and Votes in Vicksburg
The Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibit Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is open at its final stop at the Catfish Row Museum in Vicksburg before leaving the state January 20, 2023.
While on display, the museum hosted a series of free public programs in conjunction with Voices and Votes, including a "Democracy on Tap" happy hour program with local elected officials, a presentation on fashion politics with Vicksburg native designer Raymond Banks, and a discussion with Civil Rights veteran John Ferguson on his experiences.
Early January 2023 programs include a presentation from Harvard scholar Donald Field Brown on the history of The Vicksburg Citizens' Appeal, an African-American operated newspaper during critical Civil Rights years, as well as Voices and Votes state scholar Dr. Rebecca Tuuri's lecture "“Democracy in Mississippi: Race, Violence and Power in the Struggle for the Vote."
The free exhibit will be on display until January 20, 2023 alongside the museum's other collections that explore the history and diversity of the Vicksburg area. Visit the MHC web calendar for information about all upcoming Voices and Votes programming. For questions about the Museum on Main Street program, contact Molly McMillan.
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'Ideas on Tap' to Discuss Banned Books
The next installment of "Ideas on Tap," will explore the issue of banned books in various Mississippi school districts. The panel discussion will focus on student perspectives, and how issues of racial and gender identity are depicted in the censored texts.
The program will be hosted at Hal and Mal’s in Jackson at 5:30 p.m. January 19, 2023. There will be free snacks and a cash bar. Stay tuned to our social media for the panel information. For more information contact MHC Program & Outreach Officer John Spann.
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'Mississippi Founders' Continues to Tour the State
The "Mississippi Founders" exhibit has been on the road for the last several months, making stops at the Oren Dunn City Museum in Tupelo and the Medgar Evers Library in Jackson.
The exhibit is currently at the Quisenberry Library in Clinton, where it will remain until the first week of January. The exhibit will then be displayed at Delta State University from January 3 until February 1. During the month of February, the exhibit will be shown at the Quitman County Arts Council in Marks, as well as Mississippi College in Clinton.
The free exhibit is available for reservation through December 2023, so if you are interested in having it come to your school, museum, or library, please contact John Spann.
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MSU Traveling Exhibit Honors U.S. President Grant
An exhibit developed by the Mississippi State University Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library commemorating the 200th anniversary of the 18th U.S. president’s birth has been traveling the nation throughout 2022, with support from the Mississippi Humanities Council. The exhibit has been well-received, according to organizers, and will continue to travel through early 2023.
The Grant Library, along with the Ulysses S. Grant Association, kicked off a year-long series of bicentennial events in March, including a Grant scholars symposium at MSU followed by events at historic sites across the country associated with Grant’s life and presidency. The traveling exhibit supported by the MHC has stopped at four sites in three states so far, and will continue traveling in 2023 to Ohio, Tennessee and Washington, with a tentative concluding exhibit at the Vicksburg National Military Park.
The Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library was founded in 2012, on the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Ulysses S. Grant Association. On November 30, 2017, the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library and Museum was officially unveiled on the fourth floor of Mississippi State University’s Mitchell Memorial Library. The USGPL contains the collections of the USGA, the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana, and the Mississippi Political Collections.
The USGA, the Papers of Ulysses S. Grant editorial project, and its collections have been at Mississippi State University since 2009. With the support of the USGA and Mississippi State University, the USGPL seeks to preserve the history of and present the life of President Ulysses S. Grant to scholars, students, and the general public.
More information about the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library may be found at https://www.usgrantlibrary.org/
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MHC Holiday Break
The Mississippi Humanities Council will be closed starting 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 21, through January 2, 2023. We will reopen January 3 at 8:30 a.m. We wish you and your family warm seasons greetings and a Happy New Year!
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