 | |
 William F. Winter Archives and History Building | |
| Formation | February 26, 1902 |
|---|---|
| Type | State Agency |
| Purpose | Archive |
| Location |
|
| Coordinates | 32°18′02″N90°10′43″W / 32.30056°N 90.17861°W |
Region served | Mississippi |
Director | Katherine Blount [2] |
Budget | $10 million (2015) [3] |
Staff | 122 (2015) [3] |
| Website | mdah |
Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) is a state agency founded in 1902. [4] It is the official archive of the Mississippi Government.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History is located at 200 North St., Jackson, Mississippi next to the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The William F. Winter Archives and History Building was dedicated on November 7, 2003.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History developed from the Mississippi Historical Society in the interest of promoting and protecting "Southern Identity" through acquisition and preservation of historical records, especially those records pertaining to the American Civil War. [5] Legislation authorizing creation of Department of Archives and History was signed by Mississippi Governor Andrew Longino on February 26, 1902. [5] The Department of Archives and History is the second oldest state department of archives and history in the United States. [6]
In 1902, Dunbar Rowland, an attorney and historian, was selected as the first Director of the department and served in that position until his death in 1937. [5] [7]
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History was tasked with providing clerical support of the redesign of the Mississippi state flag under the House Bill 1796, [8] which established the Commission to Redesign the Mississippi State Flag. On January 11, 2021 Governor Tate Reeves signed House Bill No. 1 [9] which enacted the new Mississippi State Flag design "In God We Trust" into law.
The mission of Mississippi Department of Archives and History:
By preserving Mississippi’s diverse historic resources, and sharing them with people around the world, MDAH inspires discovery of stories that connect our lives and shape our future. [10]
A director and a nine-member board of trustees [11] presides over the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and its five divisions, which include: [12]
Administrative offices, as well as archivist work areas and archive storage areas, are located in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building. Completed in 2003, the 6-story structure contains 146,000 sq ft (13,600 m2).
The Historic Preservation Division is housed in the Charlotte Capers Archives and History Building, located at 100 South State Street, Jackson. [13] This division administers Historical Markers in Mississippi, Mississippi Landmarks, and National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi. [12]
The Museum Division provides administrative oversight for the following facilities and locations: [12]
The Programs and Communication Division, established in 2017, oversees programming, public information, publications, marketing, and education. [16]
Washington is an unincorporated community in Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Located along the lower Mississippi, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Natchez, it was the second and longest-serving capital of the Mississippi Territory.
Jefferson College, in Washington, Mississippi, at 16 Old North Street. Named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the college was chartered in 1802, but did not begin operation until 1811. Jefferson College was founded as an all-male college but operated primarily as a college-preparatory school, and later became a military boarding school, which it remained for most of its history.
Church Hill is a small unincorporated community in Jefferson County, Mississippi, United States. It is located eight miles east of the Mississippi River and approximately 18 miles north of Natchez at the intersection of highway 553 and Church Hill Road. Church Hill was a community of wealthy cotton planters and enslaved people before the American Civil War. Soil erosion, which had been going on since well before the Civil War, caused the area to decline into a poor farming community with none of the land under cultivation by 1999. The area is remarkable because its antebellum buildings are mostly intact with few modern buildings having been built.
The Old Mississippi State Capitol, also known as Old Capitol Museum or Old State Capitol, served as the Mississippi statehouse from 1839 until 1903. The old state capitol was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. In 1986, the structure was designated a Mississippi Landmark and became a National Historic Landmark in 1990.
Grand Village of the Natchez, also known as the Fatherland Site, is a 128.1-acre (0.518 km2) site encompassing a prehistoric indigenous village and earthwork mounds in present-day south Natchez, Mississippi. The village complex was constructed starting about 1200 CE by members of the prehistoric Plaquemine culture. They built the three platform mounds in stages. Another phase of significant construction work by these prehistoric people has been dated to the mid-15th century. It was named for the historic Natchez people, who used the site in the 17th and 18th centuries.
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.
"Green Leaves", also known as the Koontz House or the Beltzhoover House, is a Greek Revival mansion in Natchez, Mississippi, completed in 1838 by Edward P. Fourniquet, a French lawyer who built other structures in the area. It was purchased by George Washington Koontz, a local banker in 1849 and has been owned by his descendants ever since. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1979.
First Presbyterian Church of Natchez is a historic church at 117 S. Pearl Street in Natchez, Mississippi. It was built in 1830 with Greek Revival and Federal style architectural features. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. It also became a contributing property to the Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District in 1979. For many years The Manse housed its pastors.
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.
Eureka School, located at 412 East 6th Street in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was constructed in 1921 as a public school for African Americans. The school was the first brick school building for black students to be built in Mississippi. The former school building, which now houses a civil rights museum, was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 2005.
The Manship House is a historic residence in Jackson, Mississippi. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and was designated a Mississippi Landmark in 1986.
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).
The 2020 Mississippi flag referendum was a legislatively referred state statute appearing on the November 3, 2020 general election ballot in Mississippi.
Hugh McQueen Street was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1870 to 1880, 1890 to 1894, and from 1908 to 1912. He was its Speaker in four different stints.
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.
Adoniram Judson "Jud" Russell was an American politician. He was the speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1900 to his death.
The Museum of Mississippi History is a museum in Jackson, Mississippi located at 222 North St. #2205. The museum opened December 9, 2017, in conjunction with the adjacent Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in celebration of Mississippi's bicentennial. The theme of the history museum is "One Mississippi, Many Stories". Both museums are administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH).
Temple B'nai Israel is a synagogue built in 1905 and located at 213 South Commerce Street in the Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill Historic District in Natchez, Mississippi. The congregation is the oldest in the state, established in 1840. The building is listed as a Mississippi Landmark since 2002.
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.
