About MDAH

Empowering people through Mississippi’s many stories is our vision.

Whether you are interested in researching Mississippi history, visiting historic places, preserving history, attending or sponsoring history-themed events, engaging students with history, properly managing government records or finding opportunities for volunteering, internships and careers, MDAH can connect you with the experiences and information you seek.

By preserving Mississippi’s diverse historic resources and sharing them with people around the world, MDAH inspires discovery of stories that connect our lives and shape our future.

Who We Are

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History was founded in 1902 to collect, preserve, and provide access to the archival resources of the state. Our commitment to preservation continues today through the work of the department’s five divisions.

MDAH is governed by a nine-member board of trustees whose president is Spence Flatgard of Ridgeland. Katie Blount has served as department director since February 2015.

Administration

Administration comprises human resources, financial services, operations, and information systems.

Archives and Records Services

Archives and Records Services oversees the state archives and public reading rooms, where documents, photographs, and other items from the state’s vast collection are made available free of charge to the public.

Learn More

Historic Preservation

Historic Preservation works with property owners to preserve the state’s historic sites and structures.

Learn More

Programs and Communication

Programs and Communication focuses on programming, education, public relations, and marketing for the entire department.

Learn More

Museums

The Museum Division oversees the Museum of Mississippi History, Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Eudora Welty House & Garden, Manship House Museum, Old Capitol Museum, and the historic section of the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion in Jackson; the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians in Natchez; Historic Jefferson College in Washington, and Winterville Mounds in Greenville.

Eudora Welty House

Eudora Welty House

See where the Pulitzer Prize-winning author lived, entertained, and wrote all her stories.

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

Discover stories of Mississippians such as Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Vernon Dahmer, who changed America as local leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. 

Museum of Mississippi History

Museum of Mississippi History

Explore 15,000 years of history and learn how our shared past influences our future together.

Old Capitol Museum

Old Capitol Museum

The Old Capitol is the site of some of the state's most significant history.

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians

Grand Village of the Natchez Indians

The Grand Village is a museum and 128-acre park featuring three prehistoric Native American mounds, a reconstructed Natchez Indian house, and a nature trail.

Historic Jefferson College

Historic Jefferson College

Historic Jefferson College is the birthplace of Mississippi’s statehood in 1817.

Manship House Museum

Manship House Museum

The Manship House Museum interprets the daily life of a 19th-century Mississippi family through the house the family lived in for so many years.

Winterville Mounds

Winterville Mounds

For hundreds of years, travelers have visited the communal gathering space at Winterville Mounds.

Governor's Mansion

Governor's Mansion

The Governor’s Mansion has been the residence of Mississippi governors and their families since 1842.

News & Articles

4/19/2024
At its April 19 quarterly meeting, the Mississippi Department of Archives History (MDAH) Board of Trustees approved a demolition permit for the Eudora Welty Library building in Jackson. The permit approval followed a period of public comment during which two comments were received supporting the demolition and three against.  This building was built in 1946 as a Sears department store. In the late 1980s, it became the downtown public library and was named for Mississippi author Eudora Welty. By 2023, the building was in serious disrepair, the City declared that it would no longer maintain it, and the Jackson/Hinds Library Board voted to move the library to a different location.  
4/19/2024
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History has awarded grants totaling more than $97,000 to eight preservation projects in seven Certified Local Government (CLG) communities across the state.   The scope of work for awarded projects ranges from professional assessments, as with the evaluation of three National Register-listed buildings for future use by the City of New Albany, to more advanced phases of rehabilitation, as with the Lundy House project in Lexington.   
4/16/2024
The Eudora Welty: Other Places photography exhibit is now open at the Eudora Welty House & Garden (EWHG) Visitor Center. The special exhibit is free to visit and will be on display for two years. Focusing on Welty’s photography, the exhibit explores the way travel forms connections with people from beyond their homes. It also interprets twenty photographs Welty took in New York and New Orleans throughout the 1930s. Artifacts related to Welty's photography, including three of Welty’s cameras, a selection of archived letters, and souvenirs related to her travels will also be on display.
4/15/2024
Summer King, a graduate student at the University of Mississippi, has been selected as the inaugural fellow for the Religion in Mississippi History Research Fellowship. King will use archival holdings at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) to research the spread of Pentecostalism to interracial congregations during Jim Crow segregation.
4/8/2024

Keon Burns, a dual doctoral candidate in history and Africana studies at Pennsylvania State University, has been named the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Research Fellow for 2024.

4/3/2024
The Eudora Welty House & Garden (EWH&G) will hold a free, celebratory weekend honoring the late author and photographer Eudora Welty’s 115th birthday with free tours and activities on Friday, April 12, and Saturday, April 13.

April 19, 2024

Free Sundays at the Two Mississippi Museums
April 21, 2024, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Admission to the Two Mississippi Museums is free every Sunday. 

History Is Lunch: Rex Jones, “Steve Holland: A Career in the Legislature”
April 24, 2024, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

At noon on Wednesday, April 24, Rex Jones will present “St

Free Sundays at the Two Mississippi Museums
April 28, 2024, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Admission to the Two Mississippi Museums is free every Sunday. 

Articles and Publications

MDAH and our partner organizations produce a number of detailed publications related to Mississippi history and prehistory. Select a publication for information on topics, purchasing or subscribing.

Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees

Annual Report

Annual Report

Partnerships

Volunteer

Be part of history. Volunteer with MDAH and help us preserve and connect Mississippi’s rich historic resources with people around the world.


Volunteer