Events

Join us for the annual Bettye Jolly Lecture series featuring Jesmyn Ward at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10, on the lawn of the Eudora Welty House & Garden. Acclaimed memoirist and novelist Jesmyn Ward will deliver the eighth annual Bettye Jolly Lecture and discuss her experiences growing up in DeLisle, the Gulf Coast Mississippi town that continues to influence her writing as shown in her latest novel, Let Us Descend. A book signing and reception will follow the lecture.

Enjoy our History Happy Hour at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at the Two Mississippi Museums! The event will feature free admission, live music from Twurt Chamberlain, local food trucks, and a cash bar. Guests can also join interactive flash tours through the museums to learn about the role the blues played during the Civil Rights Movement as well as how this beloved genre still shapes modern music today. Two Mississippi Museum and Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi members receive a complimentary drink. For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.

At noon Wednesday, April 30, Jeffrey Boutwell, writer, historian, and public policy specialist, will examine George Sewall Boutwell’s political career that included the establishment of the Republican Party, his abolitionist initiatives, and his impact on the modern economy. This program will take place in the Craig H.

Learn about the impact of The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 during a fifteen-minute flash tour at the Two Mississippi Museums at 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 22. Led by education staff at the Two Mississippi Museums, this tour will commemorate the ninety-eighth anniversary of the flood’s devastating impact. This natural disaster had a particularly devastating effect on Black Mississippians, many of whom lived as impoverished cotton tenants, sharecroppers, and plantation wage hands in the Mississippi Delta lowlands.

Learn about the impact of The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 during a fifteen-minute flash tour at the Two Mississippi Museums at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 22. Led by education staff at the Two Mississippi Museums, this tour will commemorate the ninety-eighth anniversary of the flood’s devastating impact. This natural disaster had a particularly devastating effect on Black Mississippians, many of whom lived as impoverished cotton tenants, sharecroppers, and plantation wage hands in the Mississippi Delta lowlands.

At noon, Wednesday, May 28, Ivory Phillips, contributing editor at The Jackson Advocate, will examine the Ayers vs. Waller case that centered on the disparities in funding and resources between historically White and historically Black public colleges and universities. This program will take place in the Craig H.

At noon Wednesday, May 21, MacArthur Cotton, a field secretary for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Mississippi from 1961 to 1966, will explore how Cotton and other civil rights activists like Medgar Evers and Fannie Lou Hamer risked their lives in the struggle for freedom. This program will take place in the Craig H.

At noon Wednesday, May 14, author Lawrence Strout will tell the story of a local newspaper that brought aid to Pass Christian residents devastated by Hurricane Katrina. This program will take place in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums and will also stream live on the MDAH Facebook page and YouTube channel.

At noon Wednesday, April 16, Anne Marshall, executive director at the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, will explore how the Grant collection found its home in Mississippi, examine Grant’s complex reputation throughout history, and provide insights into plans for the library’s freestanding building.  This program will take place in the Craig H.