MDAH Remembers Retired Board Member Roland Weeks
Roland Weeks, longtime publisher of Gulf Coast newspapers The Daily Herald and the Sun Herald and a former member of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees, died October 4, aged 89. Weeks served on the MDAH board for 13 years before retiring in January 2020.
“Roland was always encouraging to MDAH staff and a true friend to the agency,” said MDAH Director Katie Blount. “Roland brought an important Gulf Coast perspective to the board, providing sound counsel about the preservation of historic places in the region. His guidance, along with his Gulf Coast network, was invaluable in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when MDAH was administering the federal grant program as part of the state’s recovery.”
During Weeks’ tenure on the MDAH Board, the Old Capitol Museum was restored and the Two Mississippi Museums—Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—were opened. He was at the helm of the Gulf Coast newspaper when Hurricane Camille struck in 1969. He retired as publisher, president and general manager of The Sun Herald in 2001. Weeks also was a member of the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area and an avid genealogical researcher.