Library of Congress Awards MDAH $100,000 Grant to Expand Primary Source Education in Mississippi
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) has received a $100,000 grant from the Library of Congress to expand primary source education at some secondary schools in the state. The MDAH Programs and Communication Division education staff will lead the project in collaboration with Teaching Primary Sources (TPS) Mississippi.
TPS Mississippi is part of the Library of Congress TPS Consortium, which helps educators enhance students’ critical thinking, analytical skills, and content knowledge using the organization’s collection of millions of primary sources.
“We are grateful to the Library of Congress for their support of this project,” said Kari Baker, MDAH assistant director of education. “With their teachers’ guidance, students will grow in their understanding of how to analyze, comprehend, and interpret primary sources, which are firsthand accounts such as letters, images or articles from the time of an event.”
The grant-funded project runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, 2025. During that time, middle and high school students in the Jackson metropolitan area will engage in project-based learning through primary source research in the classroom, allowing them to develop confidence and proficiency in both creating and interpreting research-based projects.
Additionally, educators will gain professional development to implement primary source instruction through various resources, including a free teacher workshop on Nov. 7 at the Two Mississippi Museums.
“The Library of Congress’s Teaching with Primary Sources helps connect teachers to the rich primary sources held by the Library of Congress and provides teaching and learning resources that help teachers use these primary sources in the classroom,” said Kenneth V. Anthony, interim head of Mississippi State University's Department of Teacher Education and Leadership. Anthony, a lead organizer of TPS Mississippi, will guide professional development for teachers and some lessons for students as part of the project.
The grant also funds the creation of Digital Snapshot Exhibits on the history of Hurricane Camille, Hurricane Katrina, and the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman. Digital Snapshot Exhibits are developed in partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Digital Humanities Center and are designed to introduce lesser-known, selected collections from MDAH's Digital Archives.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is the second-oldest state department of archives and history in the United States. The department collects, preserves, and provides access to the archival resources of the state, administers various museums and historic sites, and oversees statewide programs for historic preservation, state and local government records management, and publications. For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.