Lafayette Mardi Gras Festival

Lafayette Mardi Gras Festival, Inc. Written by Jodi Skipper, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. The Lafayette Mardi Gras Festival (LMGF), Inc. began on May 20th, 1958 when a group of civic-minded citizens living in the Free Town area of Lafayette, Louisiana gathered in the kitchen of Mrs. Thelma

Lee Bains III to perform solo show Jan. 27

Music of the South concert series continues Lee Bains III brings his distinct Southern rock and soul to the University of Mississippi for a solo performance Jan. 27 as part of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture’s Music of the South concert series. Bains, a songwriter from Birmingham, Alabama, who lives in Atlanta,

More about the new Elvis biography by Joel Williamson

In Elvis Presley: A Southern Life, Southern historian Joel Williamson, professor emeritus of the humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, takes on one of the greatest cultural icons of all time.

Ted Ownby, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, wrote the foreword for the book, which is published by Oxford University Press.

Living Blues’ October issue highlights blues tourism

Double issue provides a guide for adventurers traveling the Mississippi Blues Trail Blues tourism in Mississippi is highlighted in the special October double-issue of Living Blues magazine. Focusing on more than 180 Mississippi Blues Trail markers, the issue spotlights the people, places and themes of the blues in Mississippi with hundreds of destinations including clubs,

Jacquelyn Dowd Hall to lecture Sept. 24

OXFORD, Miss. – Exploring the civil rights movement’s importance to continuing efforts for social justice is the focus of this year’s Gilder-Jordan Lecture in Southern History at the University of Mississippi. Jacquelyn Dowd Hall, the recently retired Julia Cherry Spruill Professor at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, speaks at 7 p.m. Sept. 24

Feufollet performs Sept. 17 Music of the South Concert

Cajun roots-rock band Feufollet gives listeners a taste of Louisiana Sept. 17 at the Music of the South Concert Series at the University of Mississippi. The concert is set for 7 p.m. in the Studio Theater of the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts. The venue has a capacity of 150 people. Tickets

Eudora Welty award winners announced

Each year, the Center for the Study of Southern Culture recognizes the writing talent of Mississippi high school students with the Eudora Welty Awards in Creative Writing. Presented during the Faulkner & Yoknapatawpha Conference on July 20, the awards are given for creative writing in either prose or poem form. Established and endowed by the

Fred McDowell the Subject of Latest SouthDocs Film

The life of Mississippi hill country bluesman Mississippi Fred McDowell (1904–72) is the subject of a documentary film being made by Scott Barretta and Joe York. The idea for the film came about when the two discovered that the University of Mississippi owned a short film about McDowell called Bluesmaker, which was made in his longtime home of Como by Christian Garrison, who was a resident filmmaker for the university.

Charles Reagan Wilson Retires

Charles Reagan Wilson brought together everything from Hank Aaron to Zydeco as coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, and now his final chapter at the University of Mississippi is complete. After 33 years as a history and Southern Studies professor, Wilson retired in May.