The annual meeting of the Mississippi Historical Society will take place March 6–7 in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums. Judge Carlton W. Reeves of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi is this year’s keynote speaker. The Book of the Year Award will go to Wright Thompson for The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi. Registrants can also experience panels by the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and Millsaps College, tours on historic Jackson sites, and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Historic Objects Collection. In addition, a free panel sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council will explore John Dittmer's scholarship on civil rights in Mississippi. For more information or to register, please visit mississippihistory.org/annual-meeting.
At noon Wednesday, September 17, Diane Feldman, author of Borrowed Land, Stolen Labor, and the Holy Spirit: The Struggle for Power and Equality in Holmes County, will discuss the history of a low-income county where African American farmers became grassroots leaders of the civil rights movement as part of the History Is Lunch series. 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. Copies of Borrowed Land, Stolen Labor, and the Holy Spirit will be available for sale with a book signing to follow. For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.