Mississippi Department of Archives and History

M.B. Mayfield was a folk artist from northeast Mississippi. In a 2021 oral history, Mayfield’s cousin the Rev. Bennie Cobb said that Mayfield could “create a scene whereas some may didn’t see the scene. ... He didn’t get an opportunity to travel very much. … One may wonder, how did he get what he got from what he had, eh, because he couldn’t see it except in his mind. He couldn’t see it except in his faraway vision. ‘Cause he didn’t, until his later years, he didn’t get, he didn’t travel hardly any; but then it just like a rose. It maybe seemed closed, and then it blossoms. And that to me was what M.B. was like.” Listen to Cobb’s and other oral histories about M.B. Mayfield at https://lnkd.in/dw_64JmT Join us for #HistoryIsLunch tomorrow when Jeannie Speck-Thompson will present “A New Collection and New Look at M.B. Mayfield’s Art.” https://lnkd.in/dK76bg-V

LAST CALL! Undergraduate students, graduate students, and emerging professionals are encouraged to apply for our fall 2024 paid internships! Students will work beside our trained staff to learn more about duties and projects within archives, museums, or historic preservation sections. Deadline is Tuesday, August 27. Apply at https://bit.ly/4g3OT4y.

In 1896, Charles Price Jones, Charles Harrison Mason, Walter S. Pleasant, and other Baptist clergy formed The Church of Christ (Holiness) USA, united by a mission to call Black Americans to a life centered around sanctification. From 1899 to 1906, the movement spread through Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, and Missouri. Featured below is a photograph taken by Eudora Welty while attending Sunday School at the historic Church of Christ (Holiness) USA. Learn more about their history by visiting our archives and join us on Saturday, August 24, for a virtual discussion with Summer King, recipient of the 2024 Religion in Mississippi History Research Fellowship. To register, visit https://bit.ly/3AASpD8 Copyright © Eudora Welty, LLC; Courtesy Eudora Welty Collection – MDAH

Greg Biggs, flag historian and author, presented a gallery talk yesterday that explored the 10 unique histories of the 19th century flags preserved in the "Flags From Mississippi: Emblems Through Time" special exhibition. This is a free, temporary exhibit at the Two Mississippi Museums. Don't miss it!

Union forces captured Confederate Fort Donelson in February 1862, opening the Cumberland River as a military route to the South. This flag of the 1st Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Company F (Alcorn Rifles) was captured during that action by Col. John Thayer’s 1st Nebraska Infantry Regiment. Thayer, who would go on to a distinguished career as governor of the Wyoming Territory, U.S. Senator from Nebraska, and governor of Nebraska, retained the flag of the 1st Mississippi, which remains today with his descendants. Join us for #HistoryIsLunch today when Greg Biggs will present “Magnolia Banners: Mississippi Flags That Got Away.” https://lnkd.in/gCHAWSWh

The small community of Palmers Crossing was an important stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit, thanks largely to Milton Barnes‘s Hi-Hat Club. When the Hi-Hat received a Mississippi Blues Trail marker in 2010, the Hattiesburg-born bluesman Johnny Rawls said: “This place means everything to me. I'm a recording artist now because of Milton Barnes. He gave me a shot and I've traveled all over the world because of him and this place.” See Rawls perform his hit Red Cadillac in this festival video from Lugano, Switzerland: https://lnkd.in/eFgntzXb Join us for #HistoryIsLunch today when Sean O’Farrell will present “Palmers Crossing: People and Place.” https://lnkd.in/ezvsWuDZ

MDAH is now accepting applications for fall 2024 paid internships! We accept undergraduate and graduate students as well as emerging professionals of all disciplines interested in gaining skills and work exposure in a professional setting. Students will work beside our trained staff to learn more about duties and projects within archives, museums, or historic preservation sections. Apply online at https://lnkd.in/gMy_VwJm. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, August 27! #studentinterns #paidinternships #students #internshipopportunity #career #college #employment #learning #education #internshipprogram #internwithus

This week, a crew from Florentine Films, Ken Burns' production company, were at the Old Capitol Museum, shooting footage for an upcoming film about the history of Reconstruction through the Great Migration. The film, “Emancipation to Exodus,” will air on PBS in 2027. MDAH's Programs and Communication team welcomed director Erika Dilday, associate producer Clark Burnett and director of photography Buddy Squires. They also visited the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and were led on a tour by Two Mississippi Museums Director Michael Morris.

Philadelphia native Buford Posey talked about meeting with Mickey Schwerner and James Chaney in a 1977 oral history, the transcript of which is on the MDAH website at https://lnkd.in/ejnnycCw “I had been down to see Schwerner a few days previously … and I talked to his wife Rita and to James Chaney and advised them. I said you better stay out of Neshoba; they’ll kill you … [Andrew Goodman] had just arrived in Mississippi that day. I think he was killed about twelve hours after he got here …" Join us for #HistoryIslunch today when Bob Dent and Caroline Gray-Primer will present “MDAH and the Mississippi Burning Case Files.” https://lnkd.in/e6h8fC4R 

Natchez artist Noah Saterstrom was always curious about his great-grandfather, who was a traveling optometrist that no one in his family spoke about. Saterstrom's exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art, “What Became of Dr. Smith,” chronicles Saterstrom’s journey to uncover the particulars of his life in the form of 183 separate canvases that together form a 122-foot-long work of art. Join us tomorrow for #HistoryIsLunch when Saterstrom and Stephen Parks will present “What Became of Dr. Smith? A Life Rediscovered.” Following History Is Lunch, Saterstrom will give a gallery talk at the art museum. https://lnkd.in/gWRMPrtM