Connecting Mississippians | |
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Sometimes, it can be hard to explain all that the Mississippi Humanities Council does. We can easily talk about the programs we fund with our grants and the council-conducted projects we have developed to serve the people of Mississippi. One of our important roles is being a convener, which can be hard to describe succinctly. But during one week next month, there are two wonderful examples of how the Humanities Council serves as a vital connector in our state.
September 19 and 20, we are co-hosting a training conference designed for small historical museums. After we developed the idea earlier this year, we heard that our friends at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History were thinking about doing something similar. So, we joined forces. MDAH is providing the space at the Two Mississippi Museums and their expertise on collections management and exhibit design; the Humanities Council is using its expertise in public programs and grants and its close relationships with small museums around the state to ensure the conference is useful and successful. Through our partnerships with our state’s national heritage areas and the Community Foundation for Mississippi, we can offer a free conference and even cover the hotel costs for attendees.
Our goal is to provide information and resources to the small museums that are so crucial in preserving and sharing Mississippi’s important local stories. We also want to connect them to each other so they can develop programming partnerships and share ideas. We want to use our own network to help build new networks of collaboration. If you are affiliated with a museum, please join us in Jackson. You can register here.
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At the center of this burgeoning higher education in prisons network is a small humanities council using its connections and philosophy of partnership to help build something much larger than itself. | |
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Later that same week, we will be holding our first in-person higher education in prisons convening, gathering educators and administrators from across Mississippi to discuss how we can work together to build a statewide system to serve incarcerated students. Last year’s convening was virtual, so we look forward to being in the same room with people who are passionate about making educational opportunities available to incarcerated Mississippians.
The Humanities Council has been supporting for-credit courses in Mississippi prisons for several years. Working with our partners at the Mississippi Community College Board, the Institutions of Higher Learning, and the Woodward Hines Education Foundation, we are preparing to launch MCHEP: The Mississippi Consortium of Higher Education in Prisons—a community of practice in support of quality postsecondary education opportunities for students in prison. The Laughing Gull Foundation has given us a planning grant to create the consortium and to host these convenings. As part of this planning process, we have expanded our network of partners to include college administrators and representatives from nonprofit organizations working on re-entry and workforce development issues. We hope to be able to share some exciting news soon about the launch of MCHEP next year.
At the center of this burgeoning higher education in prisons network is a small humanities council using its connections and philosophy of partnership to help build something much larger than itself. The Mississippi Humanities Council is a catalyst and a connector dedicated to using its resources to move our state forward. Throughout this newsletter you will see plenty of examples of the public programs we fund and develop, but we are also working behind the scenes to help Mississippi’s cultural and educational institutions collaborate to better serve the people of our state.
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Mississippi Museum Conference Open for Registration
The Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History will host staff and volunteers from small museums and historical societies across Mississippi for a museum conference in Jackson Monday, September 19, through Tuesday, September 20, at the Two Mississippi Museums.
Designed for small to mid-sized museums, sessions will focus on best practices, capacity building and community programming. Conference-goers will participate in a variety of professional development sessions on topics ranging from marketing and social media, collections care and management, and exhibition design to grant-writing and fundraising, volunteer recruitment and management, and strategic planning, cultivating a working board and fostering local stakeholders. There will also be networking opportunities and a vendors hall.
In partnership with the Mississippi Museum Association, MMA members are invited to attend and participate in the annual business meeting on-site during the conference.
The conference is free, and free lodging is available for organizations outside the Jackson metro area (capped at one room per institution). Lunch and a happy hour social are included the first day, and breakfast the second day.
Please register here and contact Sarah Grantham for more information.
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MHC to Host Special 'Reflecting Mississippi' Panel at Book Festival
In conjunction with its 50th anniversary theme, the Mississippi Humanities Council will convene a special panel at the Mississippi Book Festival on “Reflecting Mississippi.” MHC Executive Director Stuart Rockoff will lead the discussion with four of Mississippi’s leading contemporary writers: Kiese Laymon; Aimee Nezhukumatahil; Mary Miller, and W. Ralph Eubanks. The panel will take place during the festival on August 20 at 4:00 p.m. in the main sanctuary at Galloway United Methodist Church.
“Reflecting Mississippi” is a year-long exploration of how our state’s narratives have, or have not, reflected who we are as a state. “We are very excited to partner with the Mississippi Book Festival, our state’s premier literary event, to help mark the Council’s 50th anniversary,” said Rockoff. “Since our founding in 1972, the MHC has worked to help Mississippians tell honest stories about our past and present, which certainly describes the work of these four outstanding writers.”
In addition to the “Reflecting Mississippi” panel, the MHC is also sponsoring panels on Civil Rights history, literary fiction, photography and history, free speech and civil discourse, the young adult anthology Blackout, and political journalism. Writers on the MHC-sponsored programs include: Dave Dennis Sr. and Jr., Bill Ferris, Eddie Glaude, Imani Perry, Angie Thomas, Nic Stone, Jonathan Martin, and many others.
The Mississippi Book Festival is back at full-force this weekend with its first in-person event since 2019. The one-day free festival draws book lovers from across the South to hear from 170 of our nation’s best writers and includes activities for all ages. Centered each August in the air-conditioned spaces of the Mississippi State Capitol Building and nearby Galloway United Methodist Church, the festival also transforms the shaded lawn and surrounding streets into a bustling scene complete with food vendors, booksellers, and family fun.
For more information about the festival, including a full schedule of events, visit www.msbookfestival.com.
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MHC Expands Prison Education Program
As the 2022-23 academic year begins, the Mississippi Humanities Council’s Prison Education Program is expanding to three additional sites and promoting higher education in prisons through a statewide convening.
Mississippi Valley State University, selected for the Second Chance Pell Grant Experiment, will receive additional support from MHC, including funds for a humanities course. MVSU is launching their prison education program this semester at Bolivar County Correctional Facility in Cleveland and the Delta Correctional Facility in Greenwood with approximately 50 students. Valley also becomes the first HBCU in the state to offer a Second Chance Pell program.
Southwest Mississippi Community College joins the MHC Prison Education program with classes at Wilkinson County Correctional Facility (WCCF) in Woodville. Students at WCCF will have the opportunity to take three classes this semester.
Additionally, MHC will continue sponsoring classes taught by Northeast Mississippi Community College at Alcorn County Regional Correctional Facility in Corinth, Hinds Community College at Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl and Delta Community College at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. MHC sponsorship of humanities classes in prison is made possible through a grant from the Mellon Foundation.
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To promote quality prison education programs for incarcerated Mississippians, MHC is a founding partner of the Mississippi Consortium for Higher Education in Prison (MCHEP). On September 22-23 in Jackson, a statewide convening for all stakeholders will explore how to establish and grow quality higher education programs in Mississippi prisons. Through a grant to MHC from the Laughing Gull Foundation, MCHEP will host the two-day conference with no registration fee for participants.
For more information on MCHEP’s convening or the MHC Prison Education program, contact Carla Falkner.
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Proposals Invited for September 15 Grant Deadline
The Mississippi Humanities Council grants 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.
Larger grants ($2,001-$7,500) deadlines are May 1 and September 15. Funded events may not occur fewer than eight weeks from the deadline date, and pre-consultation with MHC staff is required before submitting an application. Grant application forms and other related documents may be found on the grants page of the MHC website.
Applicants are encouraged to contact Carol Andersen before submitting project drafts.
Organizations seeking MHC funds will be REQUIRED to provide the Unique Entity ID (UEI). Due to federal regulations, MHC will be unable to award any funding to organizations that fail to submit this information. Organizations can receive their free UEI on the SAM.gov website. View this guide for assistance in obtaining your UEI.
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MHC Now Accepting Applications for Freedom Trail Markers
The Mississippi Freedom Trail was created to commemorate the people and places in the state that played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement. With the first markers dedicated in 2011, the trail now includes over 30 sites.
Visit Mississippi, the state’s tourism office, has asked the Humanities Council to help coordinate the next phase of the trail. With special federal funds to support tourism development, Visit Mississippi has funding in place for twenty new markers to be completed by the end of 2024.
At this time, the MHC invites the public to submit applications for historic sites, notable events, and noteworthy people to be honored with a marker along the Mississippi Freedom Trail. Communities are encouraged to begin brainstorming potential programs to accompany any new markers, with funding available from the MHC’s grant program.
The Freedom Trail Marker application can be found here. The first deadline for applications is October 1.
For more information about the Mississippi Freedom Trail, please contact MHC Program and Outreach Officer John Spann.
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Voices and Votes to Open on Mississippi Gulf Coast
On August 23, the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Voices and Votes: Democracy in America will open at the Pascagoula High School Performing Arts Center, where it will remain until September 20. The grand opening, sponsored by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, will feature Representative Jeremey Anderson from Mississippi House District 110.
In conjunction with the exhibition, the PAC has organized a series of public programs that highlight young people’s roles in Mississippi during the 20th century Civil Rights Movement. These programs include a poetry night focused on voting rights (Aug. 30), a panel discussion from Pascagoula Negro/Carver High School Alumni Association members (Sept. 6), and a student feature night, which will showcase essay contest winners and theatrical performances (Sept. 20). Voices and Votes state scholar Dr. Rebecca Tuuri will also present “Democracy in Mississippi: Race, Violence and Power in the Struggle for the Vote,” for students on September 21 at 9:30 a.m., but the public is invited to join.
Voices and Votes is a traveling exhibit offered by the Museum on Main Street division of the Smithsonian Institution. It consists of six free-standing display units incorporating photographs, text, and numerous interactive elements. The exhibit is designed for smaller venues to achieve Museum on Main Street’s goal of bringing the Smithsonian to small town America. The exhibit is free and open to the public to visit. A full listing of Voices and Votes programs can be found on the MHC calendar.
For more information about Voices and Votes and the Museum on Main Street Program, please contact MHC Program Officer Molly McMillan.
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'Mississippi Founders' Exhibit Ready for Host Sites
The MHC is now seeking partner organizations to host the traveling exhibition "Mississippi Founders," a project supported by the More Perfect Union initiative of The National Endowment for the Humanities.
The exhibit is comprised of 16 individual free-standing panels and measures approximately 70 feet in length, but can be manipulated to fit different spaces. Organizations can host the exhibit for up to six weeks. While the exhibit is free to host, the MHC encourages organizations to plan programs around "Mississippi Founders," either through a mini grant or the speakers bureau.
The exhibit highlights twelve Mississippians who challenged America to be a more perfect union. The twelve individuals range from the Reconstruction period to the modern Civil Rights Movement, including Fannie Lou Hamer, Amzie Moore, Annie Devine, Medgar Evers, Lawrence Guyot, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Clarie Collins Harvey, Aaron Henry, John R. Lynch, Thomas W. Stringer, Unita Blackwell, and Vernon Dahmer. The effort and sacrifices made by these individuals helped ensure democracy for all Mississippians. These individuals challenged the status-quo, urging that the phrase “We the People” should include all people.
If your organization is interested in bringing the "Mississippi Founders" exhibit to your community, contact MHC Program and Outreach Officer John Spann.
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Upcoming MHC-Sponsored Events | |
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North Mississippi:
Eudora Welty: the Writer as Crusader in Fiction and Photography
August 31, 6:00pm
Itawamba Community College Fine Arts Center, Fulton
A part of ICC’s "Reflecting Mississippi" program centered around representing the diverse culture of Mississippi. This lecture will feature Beverly Fatherree, who will discuss Eudora Welty’s effort to represent diversity in the state with both her stories and her photographs.
Learn More
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The Delta:
Speakers Bureau: Lost Mississippi
September 20, 6:30pm
Sharkey-Issaquena County Library, Rolling Fork
This presentation from Mary Carol Miller will highlight mansions, churches, college buildings, schools, courthouses and other historically significant structures which Mississippi has “lost” to war, fire, neglect and demolition.
Learn More
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Central Mississippi:
A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration
April 9 – September 11
Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson
A Movement in Every Direction: Legacies of the Great Migration explores the profound impact of the Great Migration on the social and cultural life of the United States from historical and personal perspectives. Co-organized with the Baltimore Museum of Art, the exhibition features newly commissioned works by 12 acclaimed Black artists across a variety of media.
Learn More
Mississippi Book Festival
August 20, 9:30 a.m.
Mississippi State Capitol, Jackson
The historic setting and lovely grounds of the Mississippi State Capitol, nearby Galloway United Methodist Church and surrounding streets become a book lover’s playground with hundreds of visiting authors, panel discussions, book signings, booksellers, Capitol tours, food trucks and family-friendly activities.
Learn More
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South Mississippi:
Voices and Votes in Pascagoula
August 23 - September 20
Pascagoula High School Performing Arts Center
The Pascagoula High School PAC is hosting Voices and Votes: Democracy in America, a Smithsonian traveling exhibition, from August 23 through September 20. The exhibit is open to the public.
Voices and Votes events in Pascagoula:
August 23, 5:30 p.m.: Grand opening with Representative Jeremey Anderson (House District 110)
August 30, 6:00 p.m.: Poetry Night
September 6, 6:00 p.m.: Pascagoula Negro/Carver High and Magnolia Monarchs Alumni Night
September 20, 6:00 p.m.: Student Showcase
September 21, 9:30 a.m.: Presentation from Voices and Votes state scholar Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, “Democracy in Mississippi: Race, Violence and Power in the Struggle for the Vote”
Learn More
Will Eisner and the History of the Graphic Novel
September 12 – October 23
The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal, and Forrest County, Hattiesburg
The Will Eisner Giclee Art Exhibition is at the heart of this celebration and is made up of 75 prints with name plates and information panels. Eisner was one of the earliest cartoonists and popularized the term “graphic novel.” He was an early contributor to formal comics. Dr. Stacy Creel will kick off the exhibit with a program delving into the history of the genre. Every Tuesday, the library will screen a movie adapted from the world of the graphic novel. Artists Chuck Galey will teach young readers how to express themselves through the creation of their own superhero.
Learn More
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