Events

Join us at noon on Wednesday, September 30, for the inaugural Bob Moses Lecture Series during History Is Lunch. Historian Charles Payne will explore how civil rights activist Ella Baker influenced Moses’s approach to organizing, from his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to the founding of the Algebra Project. Payne, Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, will trace the connection between Baker’s grassroots, relationship-driven approach and Moses’s lifelong commitment to collective empowerment through education and organizing. This free event will take place in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums and will stream live on the MDAH Facebook page and YouTube channel. Copies of I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow. For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.

At noon on Wednesday, September 23, Chris Danielson, professor of history at Montana Technological University, will offer a reassessment of the civil rights movement and the individuals who shaped it as part of the History Is Lunch series. Danielson’s book, Brother Outsider, Brother Insider, examines the life and work of Lawrence Thomas Guyot Jr.

Join us for a free event featuring a screening of the Color of Conservation at 2 p.m. on Sunday, September 20, in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium at the Two Mississippi Museums. This 12-minute documentary follows conservationist Robin Whitfield as she works to preserve the land, legacy, and cultural memory of the Mississippi Delta.

Join us at 11 a.m. Thursday, September 10, at the Two Mississippi Museums to embark on a behind-the-scenes tour of the MDAH Historic Objects Collection led by Nan Prince, MDAH director of collections, and Hong Li, MDAH collections manager.

Join us on Sunday, September 13, at 3 p.m. to celebrate Gospel Music Heritage Month, with live performances and immersive storytelling exploring the genre's history, culture, and community. Chandra Wise will display her private collection of sheet music

Celebrate Hezekiah Watkins' birthday at the Two Mississippi Museums on Tuesday, September 1, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Copies of Watkins' book, Pushing Forward: The Story of Mississippi's Youngest Freedom Rider, and T-shirts will be available for purchase, followed by a book signing.

Ambassador Andrew Young will deliver the Medgar Wiley Evers Lecture at 6 p.m. on Thursday, September 3, in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums. He will reflect on his life in public service and his longstanding ties to Mississippi in conversation with Ebony Lumumba, department chair and associate professor of English at Jackson State University.

Join us at noon on Wednesday, September 16, for a screening of the second episode in David Garraway’s documentary series, “Mississippi, USA: The Fisher People” as part of the History Is Lunch series. The documentary explores the immigration experiences of Vietnamese refugees on the Mississippi Gulf Coast

Mondays at noon, the Eudora Welty House & Garden will host live discussions of The Golden Apples by Eudora Welty as part of the Welty at Home Virtual Book Club. Discussions will be led by Suzanne Marrs, Eudora Welty’s friend and biographer. Email info@eudoraweltyhouse.com to register.

Interested in starting your journey in genealogy? William Thompson, historic resource specialist at MDAH, will lead a beginning genealogy workshop on Saturday, September 12, at 10 a.m. in the orientation room of the William F. Winter Archives and History Building. This free event will cover how to use information from one record to locate additional records