“Down in the Delta” presented by Vanessa Charlot The complicated histories of Black life in the American South, ladened with cotton fields and the remnants of Jim Crow, has imprinted itself upon the hauntingly beautiful contemporary landscape of the Mississippi Delta. The project, Down in the Delta, is a visual archive of the lived experiences …
“Shalom Y’all: The History of Jews in Mississippi” presented by Stuart Rockoff In the early 19th century, Jewish immigrants from Europe began to arrive in the Magnolia State, settling initially in towns along the Mississippi River. Concentrating in retail trade, these Jews became visible symbols of economic modernity and market capitalism in Mississippi. Throughout much …
“Southern Light, Southern Landscape” presented by William Dunlap and W. Ralph Eubanks In his essay “The Power of Place in Art and Literature,” the artist William Dunlap writes, “The one constant in American art and life is the land.” In this talk, William Dunlap and Ralph Eubanks will discuss the connection between the landscape of …
“Introducing the Southern Music Research Center” presented by Burgin Mathews Earlier this year, the nonprofit Southern Music Research Center (SMRC) launched its online archive: a searchable public repository of rare photos, rescued recordings, oral history interviews, and ephemera reflecting a deep diversity of music communities, expressions, and experiences across the American South. In this talk, …
“‘Jews, Heathens, and Other Dissenters’: New Perspectives on Race and Religion in the American South” presented by Shari Rabin The 1669 Fundamental Constitutions of Carolina anticipated the arrival of Jews alongside “heathens, and other dissenters from the purity of the Christian religion.” Meanwhile, the Code Noir, which governed French Louisiana, banned Jewish settlement altogether. Nevertheless, …
“Whiteness in Crisis?” presented by James M. Thomas In The History of White People, historian Nell Painter wrote, “Being white these days isn’t what it used to be.” What, then, does it mean to be white today? Through in-depth interviews with white people living in the American South—a region where the nation’s color line has arguably …
“Jonesland: A Legacy of Extraction and Survival” presented by Jazmin Miller and Anya Groner Jonesland is one of many historic Black communities along the lower Mississippi River, and like many free towns, Jonesland’s future, and remarkable past, is at risk. Southeast Louisiana, sometimes called Cancer Alley, is home to a quarter of the nation’s petrochemical …
“‘Go Slow, Now’: The Free Southern Theater, Civil Rights, and the Racial Project of Black Patience” presented by Julius Fleming Jr. This talk considers how theater was vital to the civil rights movement. It explores how Black artists and activists in the U.S. South, namely the Free Southern Theater, used theatrical performance to stage a …
(Un)Known Legacies presented by Harlan Bozeman Researching American history can lead you into a pit of hopelessness, but choosing to acknowledge the atrocities and subjugation that Black people have endured can introduce strategies for coping and maneuvering through this world. Through working within the expanded field of photography, Harlan Bozeman uses the camera as a …
“Running Away from Early America” presented by Jessica Taylor Escaping servitude and slavery in the 17th-century English colonies demanded creativity in the face of surveillance and threats of violence. How did runaways seek freedom in 17th-century Virginia, and with whom? Where did they go, and what strategies actually worked? How did they imagine life beyond …