History
Establishment
The Mississippi Historical Society (MHS) was founded in Jackson on November 9, 1858 by Benjamin L.C. Wailes. [2] [3] The initial incarnation of the society was short-lived, expiring after only two years owing to the outbreak of the American Civil War. [3]
Second incarnation
After a thirty-year hiatus, MHS was restarted in 1890 on the University of Mississippi campus in Oxford. [3] On the campus, the society had closed meetings and it suffered from lack of resources for years until history professor Franklin Lafayette Riley Jr., [4] with counsel from his academic mentor, Herbert Baxter Adams and other state educators, made efforts to revive the Mississippi Historical Society. Riley's attempt to restore MHS began in 1897 as a response to the failing attempt being made at the time where MHS only had nine members. The creation of the Proceedings of the Mississippi Historical Society was a result of Riley's campaign to up membership and incentivize due-paying members to stay. [4] Riley published historical research books through MHS and some of those works contained contributions from Civil War veterans like Confederate general Stephen D. Lee. [5] [1] [4]
Beginning in 1898, the rejuvenated MHS began a series of 14 annual volumes entitled Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, containing significant scholarship on the history of the state. [3] This was continued in 1916 with the publication of a new series of five additional volumes under the editorship of historian Dunbar Rowland. [3] [6]
The society contributed to the creation of The Mississippi Department of Archives and History in 1902. [3] The two organizations worked in close cooperation until MHS fell dormant once again in 1925. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History produced the scholarly publication The Journal of Mississippi History, in 1939 with the cooperation of MHS. [1]
Society today
The Mississippi Historical Society was relaunched for a third time in 1952 and has maintained itself in continuous operation ever since. [3] For a brief year between 1952 and 1953 MHS was active, falling once more into dormancy until its most successful upstart in 1964 with the production of J. F. H. Claiborne’s book "Mississippi as a Province, Territory, and State". [7] The society publishes the quarterly Journal of Mississippi History, the monthly Mississippi History Newsletter, and the online journal History Now. [3] In 1973, MHS worked in conjunction with MDAH, the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, the University of Southern Mississippi, and the University and College Press of Mississippi to produce the two-volume set "A History of Mississippi," edited by R. A. McLemore which was the most recent comprehensive history of Mississippi published since the 1920's. [1] In 1987, MHS sponsored the creation of Mississippi: An Illustrated History by Edward Akin. [8]
In 1997, MHS announced the upcoming book series, published jointly with MDAH and the University Press of Mississippi and through funding by the Phil Hardin Foundation, The Heritage of Mississippi Series to celebrate Mississippi’s bicentennial. [9] [1] The goal of this series is to publish fifteen books covering the heritage of Mississippi in sections and eras relevant to the history of the state for the purpose of educating readers on the history and culture of Mississippi. So far eight of the fifteen have been produced.
In 2007, Mississippi State University history professor emeritus John F. Marszalek served as president of the Mississippi Historical Society. He is renowned for his original and creative work on the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. His ascendancy to the presidency of the society is notable considering that he is one of the few northern-born members to serve in that position. During the early 2000s, the MHS repeatedly honored historians for their work on Mississippi history, notably Charles C. Bolton—Department Chair at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and author of the highly critical 2005 book The Hardest Deal of All: The Battle Over School Integration in Mississippi, 1870-1980 .
In addition, in 2007 the MHS invited Bolton and James W. Loewen, author of The Mississippi Chinese: Between Black and White , to speak at the annual meeting. [10] Loewen is notable for filing a federal lawsuit against the state of Mississippi in 1975 over the state's rejection of his textbook, Mississippi: Conflict & Change, co-authored by historian Charles Sallis, from use in the state's public schools. [11]
Annual Awards
MHS presents writing awards to those with especially notable master's thesis and dissertations biennially. Each year awards for the "Lifetime Achievement for Contributions to Mississippi," "Teacher of the Year" (for a secondary school socials studies teacher in Mississippi), "Outstanding Local Historical Society Award," and Merit Awards for the presentation and promotion of history are all allotted by the Mississippi Historical Society. [1] [3]
Monticello is a town in and the county seat of Lawrence County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,571 at the 2010 census.
A Mississippi Landmark is a building officially nominated by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and approved by each county's chancery clerk. The Mississippi Landmark designation is the highest form of recognition bestowed on properties by the state of Mississippi, and designated properties are protected from changes that may alter the property's historic character. Currently there are 890 designated landmarks in the state. Mississippi Landmarks are spread out between eighty-one of Mississippi's eighty-two counties; only Issaquena County has no such landmarks.
Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency founded in 1902. It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government.
Sharon is an unincorporated community located on Mississippi Highway 43 in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. Sharon is approximately 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Camden and 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Canton. Sharon is located within the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Montana Historical Society (MHS) is a historical society located in the U.S. state of Montana that acts to preserve historical resources important to the understanding of Montana history. The society provides services through six operational programs: Administration, Research Center, Museum, Publications, Historic Preservation, and Education. It is governed by a 15-member Board of Trustees, appointed by the governor, which hires the director of the society and sets policy for the agency. Founded in 1865, it is one of the oldest such institutions in the Western United States.
Lodi is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. Lodi was once incorporated and in 1900 had a population of 29. A post office operated under the name Lodi from 1849 to 1969.
Dunbar Rowland was an American attorney, archivist, and historian. He was Director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History from its inception in 1902, until his death in 1937.
Sweatman is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Mississippi, United States. Sweatman is 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Alva and 8.5 miles (13.7 km) east of Duck Hill south of Mississippi Highway 404.
Garlandville is an unincorporated community in Jasper County, Mississippi, United States. Garlandville is 8.2 miles (13.2 km) south-southeast of Newton along Mississippi Highway 504.
The 11th Mississippi Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry formation in the Western Theater of the American Civil War commanded by Col. Robert O. Perrin, from 1863 to March 1865, when he resigned, and Lieut. Col. Henry L. Muldrow, until it was disbanded in May 1865.
Andrew Boyd Dilworth was an American farmer, politician, and military officer.
Waverly is an unincorporated community in Clay County, Mississippi, United States.
Charlotte Capers was director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) from 1955 to 1969 and was the first woman to become the head of a state agency in Mississippi. Her tenure in various staff positions at MDAH spanned 45 years (1938–1983).
Homer Harris Casteel was an American politician in the state of Mississippi who served in the Mississippi Senate and as Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi from 1920-1924.
Fort Carney was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War.
Old Greenville is a ghost town in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States. The town was located along the old Natchez Trace and was once the largest town along the Trace. Nothing exists at the site today except the town's cemetery.
Doctor Stites was a delegate to Mississippi's 1868 constitutional convention and a state legislator in Mississippi. He was a trustee of Alcorn University. He was a party to the dispute between new and old trustees after a changing of the guard.
Eron Rowland (1861/2-1951), born Eron Opha Moore and also known as Eron Moore Gregory, was a historian, author and the wife of Andrew E. Gregory until his death in 1900, and later Dunbar Rowland. With Rowland, she helped develop the Mississippi Department of Archives and History which holds many of the family's papers.
Senatobia High School (SHS) is a public high school at 221 Warrior Drive in Senatobia, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Senatobia Municipal School District.
Felix LaBauve (1809–1879) was a French-born American politician, businessperson, newspaper publisher, newspaper editor, early settler, and community leader in DeSoto County, Mississippi. He was a former member of the Mississippi State Senate serving from 1846 to 1848. LaBauve was also a philanthropist and is believed to be the first person to establish a scholarship program at a Mississippi state-supported institution of higher learning.
