Sterling Magee, a Mississippi-born blues guitarist and singer, had experienced firsthand the music industry’s exploitation of black musicians. When his wife died of cancer, he gave up guitar and gave into despair. Several years later, reborn as “Mr. Satan,” he was busking the streets of Harlem, spreading his gospel of joy, when a young white… Read More >

Professor Rhae Lynn Barnes, the foremost expert on amateur blackface minstrelsy, has spent more than a decade cataloging 10,000 minstrel plays. This lecture will contextualize the recent blackface scandals in Mississippi by examining the central role amateur blackface minstrel shows played in the United States government. In the century spanning the end of the Civil… Read More >

“Art and Activism at Tougaloo College” with Turry M. Flucker The focus of this talk will highlight significant works by modern visual artists from the Tougaloo College Art Collections as the college celebrates the sesquicentennial year of its founding. During the turbulent 1960s, a group of New York art activists involved in the struggle for… Read More >

Paolo Battaglia: “Italian American Country” Following the route taken in 1905 by Italian ambassador Edmondo Mayor des Planches, Italian author Paolo Battaglia met the descendants of immigrants who came from his country and traveled to the four corners of the United States. Italian American Country is an illustrated book and a three-episode documentary chronicling the travels and… Read More >

Kate Kenwright, Lolly Rash, and Jodi Skipper: “Historic Preservation in Mississippi from an Advocacy and Local Government Perspective” Ever wonder what makes a building historic? Who tells the story of the place? What role do governments and neighborhood groups play in preservation? Jodi Skipper, associate professor of anthropology and Southern Studies, will moderate a discussion… Read More >

Brannon Costello: “Superhero Comics and the U.S. South” Swinging, flying, and leaping through the canyons between skyscrapers, superheroes have long been understood as emblems of urban American modernity. In garish red, white, and blue costumes, characters such as Captain America, Patriot, and even Superman are read as icons of American nationalism. But what happens, then,… Read More >