The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is the recipient of two 2025 Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC) Awards.
During the SEMC awards luncheon held Oct. 22 in Montgomery, Alabama, MDAH was recognized with the following:
- Gold Award in the technology competition: Virtual Media: Project Under $1,000 for the Freedom Summer Shorts Campaign.
- Second Place in the poster category for the Two Mississippi Museums 2025 Makers Fest Poster.
“Our teams’ digital storytelling brings Mississippi stories alive and to a wider audience,” said Katie Blount, director of MDAH. “We’re grateful SEMC recognized our work.”
The MDAH Freedom Summer Shorts Campaign was an entry in the SEMC Technology Competition that recognizes effective design, accessibility, creativity, and pride in work and recognition of institutional identity. The campaign was a series of short videos visualizing 10 topics within the scope of Freedom Summer, which took place during 1964.
As technology continues to gain importance throughout the museum field, expectations and standards were exceptionally high for this year’s applicants. The SEMC Technology Competition received a record number of applications from a wide variety of museums across the southeast.
Recipients of the awards were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in the fields of digital media and technology.
The poster was a submission in the SEMC Publications Competition that rewards excellence in design in southeastern museum publications. The Two Mississippi Museums are among the sites administered by MDAH. Mississippi Makers Fest is an annual, daylong event celebrating the state’s music and art.
Award winners will be listed in the fall 2025 edition of “INSIDE SEMC,” a digital publication of the Southeastern Museums Conference.
About the Southeastern Museums Conference:
According to their website, the Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC), a nonprofit membership organization, “is an association of museums, museum staff, independent professionals and corporate partners. We focus on the Southeastern United State including: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands.”
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(Photos attached: Rodney Thompson and Mikailah Jefferson; Tori Rice.)
