News Releases

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) recently welcomed Andrea Scott of Ackerman as the 2025 Family Genealogy Fellow. 

The Family Genealogy Fellowship supports researchers in locating information about their Mississippi-based families using MDAH’s resources. The five-day fellowship includes funding for travel and hotel accommodation.

Scott, who works in a hospital business office, said she’s been researching her family history for years.

“I love genealogy … and this just gave me the chance to do nonstop research,” she said, referring to the fellowship.

Scott said the fellowship has been an opportunity to find the missing link in one of her great grandparents’ family lines. All sides of her family have been in Mississippi since at least the mid-1800s, though some relatives lived in the state even earlier. 

MDAH has a wealth of resources and unique collections relating to families in Mississippi.  As part of her research, Scott pulled files, family trees, books, and microfilms. She said that she wanted to take full advantage of MDAH’s resources. 

What were some of her discoveries?

“I was able to pull the minutes from my mom’s home church in Calhoun County. Just looking through there, I was actually able to find the baptismal record of my great grandfather, which was really cool to find,” Scott said.

To learn more about the genealogy fellowship and genealogy workshops at MDAH, please visit https://www.mdah.ms.gov/genealogy/genealogy-fellowship.