Foundation for Mississippi History

The annual meeting of the Foundation for Mississippi History will be held at 2 p.m., Thursday, March 21, 2013, in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building (200 North St., in downtown Jackson).

Nominations for the Capers, Carr Black, and Welty Awards, given every other year, are due by February 28, 2013. These three awards recognize excellence in the preservation, interpretation, and presentation of Mississippi history.

In 2007 the Foundation for Mississippi History received a contribution to establish achievement awards in honor of Patti Carr Black and in memory of Eudora Welty and Charlotte Capers. After the nomination period is complete, recipients are reviewed by the board of trustees of the Department of Archives and History and the award winners are selected at their April board meeting. The 2013 Capers-Carr Black-Welty Awards each carry a $300 cash prize.

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MDAH Press Release – The 2013 meeting of the Mississippi Historical Society will be February 28-March 2, 2013, in Vicksburg. Every year the society awards prizes for outstanding work in interpreting, teaching, and preserving Mississippi history, including the award for best history teacher.

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The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has the most extensive Mississippi artifact collection in the world, and some of the more remarkable items are the historic flags and banners. The Foundation for Mississippi History and MDAH are introducing the Flag Preservation Initiative in order to create greater awareness of the department’s substantial collection of flags and banners, specifically those in dire need of preservation.

The first flag in need of conservation is one of the department’s most valuable – the Twenty-Star United States flag. This flag represents the state’s admission into the Union on December 10, 1817. Because of its condition, the flag can rarely be handled and it cannot be displayed in any public setting. It will take nearly $50,000 to conserve it and prepare it for travel around the state in celebration of the Mississippi Bicentennial in 2017. The flag will eventually be on permanent exhibit in the Museum of Mississippi History.

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MDAH Press Release — The Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum projects are in high gear as the department has been coordinating community meetings around the state, collecting artifacts, and raising funds for exhibits through the Foundation for Mississippi History. The foundation has launched a campaign to raise at least $12 million in private funding for the two museums–$8 million for exhibits and a $2 million endowment for each of the museums. The new website documents the progress of the project and offers readers opportunities to be a part of the work. The web address is www.2mississippimuseums.com.

Public meetings for the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (MCRM) began early this year and will continue through April. Hilferty & Associates, the firm hired to develop exhibits for the civil rights museum, met with MDAH staff and members of the Legislative Black Caucus in January to review and discuss preliminary exhibit plans. MDAH director H.T. Holmes asked caucus members to help the department make contact with civil rights movement veterans and other citizens around the state with stories to tell or artifacts to donate. In February the department held a focus group meeting with Jackson-area leaders at Tougaloo College and public meetings in McComb and Hattiesburg. Continue reading

This pinch pot, by Mississippi potter George Ohr, will be part of the exhibit.

Thirty-six iconic objects from the MDAH museum division collection will be featured in a limited-time exhibit March 23–April 29 at the Old Capitol Museum. From the Clarksdale Bell used for trade by Spanish explorers in the 1500s to the flip flops worn by a female Freedom Rider incarcerated at the Hinds County jail in 1961, this collection gives visitors a tangible glimpse of Mississippi’s history. Many of these items have not been seen since Hurricane Katrina forced the closure of the Old Capitol in 2005 and won’t be seen again until the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History open in 2017.

The fundraising gala, A Walk through History, will offer a sneak preview of the exhibit as well as a private viewing of the rare twenty-star flag that flew over the United States only in 1818, the year after Mississippi became the twentieth state. Sponsored by the Foundation for Mississippi History, the black tie optional event will be held on Thursday, March 22, 6–9 p.m. at Old Capitol Museum. Tickets are $100 per person. For tickets call 601-576-6885 or make a contribution online and designate your gift as “Walk Through History.” Continue reading

MDAH News Release – A new online resource provides unprecedented amounts of information on the state’s historic sites, from photographs and blueprints to professional reports to digital maps. In addition to basic architectural data, the department’s Historic Resources Database contains images of buildings across Mississippi, plus information such as drawings, newspaper clippings, and other historical documents related to the structures. Users can search by location, style, age, and other categories.

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