Latest news with #MississippiDepartmentofArchivesandHistory
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Stabilization project for Windsor Ruins now complete
CLAIBORNE COUNTY, Miss. (WJTV) – The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) completed a preservation and stabilization project at Windsor Ruins. The project included a walking trail and new signs that tell the stories of the plantation owners and the people who were enslaved there. Windsor Ruins, listed in the National Register of Historic Places, is a Mississippi Landmark that annually draws visitors from across the globe to see what remains from a devastating 1890 fire. 'Windsor Ruins is one of those iconic Mississippi places that has fascinated people for more than 100 years,' said Katie Blount, MDAH director. 'This stabilization project has helped to preserve this site's structure and history, providing a larger narrative to be shared with future generations.' Gas Tank Getaways: Windsor Ruins According to MDAH, Windsor, completed in 1861, was designed by David Shroder and built by White artisans and carpenters, and enslaved laborers. The mansion was at the heart of an extensive cotton plantation of 2,500 acres, with a workforce of more than 300 enslaved people. Destroyed by a fire in 1890, the only remains of the mansion were 27 of its original 29 columns, the balustrade, and four iron staircases – three that disappeared in the years after the fire and one set that now serves as the entrance to Oakland Memorial Chapel at Alcorn State University. By 1970, only 23 columns remained. In 1974, MDAH began its oversight of Windsor after its donation by the Magruder family. Beginning in 2016, MDAH undertook a significant effort to stabilize the columns. Officials said the project included stabilizing the masonry and stucco for all the columns by installing anchors to bond materials together and reconstruction of missing brickwork and repointing deteriorated joints in the plinths. Large areas of stucco had been lost on the bases since 1936, resulting in the exposure of this brickwork. Preservationists focused on stabilizing detached sections by injecting a conservation mortar. The project was completed in 2024. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mississippi Makers Fest returns to Jackson this weekend
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – One of the biggest spring events hosted by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) will return to Jackson this weekend. On Friday, organizers helped set up tents, signs and tables for the 2025 Mississippi Makers Fest outside the Two Mississippi Museums. This event celebrates the state's music, culture, food and art. Visit Jackson reveals master plan for future destination growth Each year, the festival takes place the Saturday before Mother's Day. With the threat of rain this year, organizers have made provisions. 'The show must go on. So if there's a little drizzle, we'll continue, but there may be delay for lightning. If that's the case. We have QR codes posted everywhere. You can scan the QR code, and then once that's cleared up, we'll start the show again,' said Kimberlee Cooper, with the Mississippi Makers Fest. Throughout the day, there will be folk, blues, rock and bluegrass performances. The event is free and open to the public. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
ACTC professor is 2025 Eudora Welty Research Fellow
ASHLAND Kyle Alvey, a doctoral student at Purdue University, has been named the 2025 Eudora Welty Research Fellow. Alvey will use archival holdings in the Eudora Welty Collection housed at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to research the life and work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Alvey, an instructor with the Ashland Community and Technical College system, will use the $5,000 fellowship award to cover his travel, housing and other expenses incurred while conducting his primary Welty research at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson. 'Like many American writers, the legacy of Eudora Welty is complex and requires an understanding of contextual layering, looking at aspects of race, gender, class, identity, Southern qualities and more,' Alvey said. 'It is my hope with this fellowship to produce a series of essays fit for publication that focused on around Eudora Welty's short story, 'Where is the Voice Coming From?,' that tells the story of the assassination of Civil Rights activist Medgar Evers from the perspective of the assassin. My focus is the role this story had in her life as a Southern writer and a social activist, as well as in the overall trajectory of the 20th century Civil Rights Movement.' David Pilcher, director of the MDAH Archives and Record Services Division, acknowledged the Eudora Welty Foundation's support of the fellowship program. 'I am certain Kyle will gain valuable insights this summer, making excellent use of digitized Welty Collection materials and extensive paper archives to conduct his research,' Pilcher said, citing that the foundation makes those materials accessible through MDAH. Alvey received a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Kentucky. He is completing a master of arts in history at Marshall University in May 2025. He is starting his PhD in English with a focus in American literature of the 20th and 21st centuries in the fall and states the archival research experience will be an excellent precursor to his advanced studies. The Eudora Welty Collection is the world's finest collection of materials related to Welty and one of the most varied literary collections in the United States. The collection includes manuscripts, letters, photographs, drawings, essays, and film and video footage that spans Welty's entire life. Beginning in 1957, over the course of more than 40 years, Welty donated materials to the department, primarily literary manuscripts and photographs. At her death, her remaining papers were bequeathed to MDAH and included unpublished manuscripts and 14,000 items of correspondence with family, friends, scholars, young writers, and noted writers. The Eudora Welty Collection can be accessed at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building at 200 N. St. in Jackson. The Eudora Welty Digital Archives also features selections of correspondence, manuscripts, photographs, and other media related to Welty. For more information on the archival collections or the Eudora Welty Research Fellowship, call Elisabeth Cambonga at (601) 576-6868, or by email at fellowships@
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Marquis de Lafayette's cane on display at Two Mississippi Museums
JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – In 1825, the Marquis de Lafayette presented a walking cane to then-Governor Walter Leake. If you head over to the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, you can see it for yourself. The Marquis de Lafayette was a French nobleman who came to the United States to help fight during the American Revolution. He fought with George Washington, who came to see Lafayette like a son. How Smedes helped lead to the Teddy Bear Brother Rogers, a historian, explained how Lafayette's cane ended up in Mississippi: 'Fifty years after the American Revolution in 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette came back to the United States at the request of President James Monroe. And Lafayette, at that time, was the oldest surviving general from the American Revolution. Came here 50 years after the American Revolution. And Lafayette decided when he was here in the United States that he wanted to visit every state, all 24 of them,' said Rogers. 'And so, Mississippi was one of the 24 states. And that meant that Lafayette came on the Mississippi River and stopped in the largest city, which was Natchez. And when Lafayette was in Natchez, he brought a cane as a gift to Governor Walter Leake. And that cane stayed in Governor Walter Leake's family. And that was in this was in 1825 when he donated it 200 years ago.' In 1910, the great-granddaughter of Leake donated the cane to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). 'One of the great things about this walking cane is it's not a replica. It's the actual cane that the Marquis de Lafayette had in his hand as a gift when he was in Mississippi,' said Rogers. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
