Mississippi Writers Trail

Last updated

The Mississippi Writers Trail is a series of historical markers which celebrate the literary, social, historical, and cultural contributions of Mississippi's most acclaimed and influential writers. An advisory committee of state cultural agencies oversees the process of installing historical markers in places of significance to an author's life. To emphasize the literary focus of the trail, the markers are cast in the shape of an open book and display information about the author's life with the goal of educating the public about the legacy of Mississippi writers.

Contents

Overview

The Mississippi Writers Trail debuted on the State Capitol grounds in Jackson, Mississippi at the 2018 Mississippi Book Festival with an unveiling of two marker prototypes honoring Eudora Welty and Jesmyn Ward, connecting the past and present contributions of Mississippi authors. [1] [2] The program runs as an unfunded mandate which means these literary markers are produced and installed as funding becomes available. [3]

Initial support from a Statehood Grant through the National Endowment for the Humanities was key for installing the first phase of markers for the Trail. [4] The Writers Trail has received additional support from the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, [5] the Mississippi Gulf Coast National Heritage Area, and the City of Clarksdale, Mississippi [6] to install markers for authors located within the service area of each organization.

Selection and placement process

The Mississippi Writers Trail Advisory Committee, composed of many state cultural institutions, selects several scholars who identify potential authors for inclusion in the Writers Trail and to draft the text for each marker. Final locations are determined in consultation with local communities; authors or their surviving families are consulted for the market text as well. [7]

Mississippi Writers Trail Advisory Committee

Mississippi Writers Trail markers

WriterMarker LocationCityMarker PhotoDate of Installation
Margaret Walker Alexander Margaret Walker Center,

Jackson State University

Jackson, MS
Margaret Walker Marker Photo.jpg
July 8, 2019
William Faulkner Rowan Oak,

Faulkner Home and Museum

Oxford, MS
Mississippi Writers Trail William Faulkner Marker.jpg
October 10, 2019
Shelby Foote E.E. Bass Cultural Arts CenterGreenville, MS
Shelby Foote Marker.jpg
October 18, 2019
Walker Percy E.E. Bass Cultural Arts CenterGreenville, MS
Walker Percy Marker.jpg
October 18, 2019
Elizabeth Spencer Merrill MuseumCarrollton, MS
Elizabeth Spencer marker.jpg
October 5, 2019
Ida B. Wells Rust CollegeHolly Springs, MS
Ida B. Wells Marker.jpg
November 7, 2019
Eudora Welty Eudora Welty House and GardenJackson, MS
Eudora Welty marker.jpg
September 10, 2018
Tennessee Williams Cutrer MansionClarksdale, MS
Tennessee Williams marker.jpg
October 17, 2019
Richard Wright George W. Armstrong LibraryNatchez, MS
Richard Wright Marker Photo 2.jpg
July 23, 2020
Anne Moody Louis Gaulden and Riquita Jackson

Family Memorial Park

Centreville, MS
Anne Moody Marker Photo.jpg
May 26, 2021
Dorothy Shawhan Wright Gallery of Kethley Hall,

Delta State University

Cleveland, MS
Dorothy Shawhan Marker.jpg
July 23, 2021
Richard Ford Carnegie Public LibraryClarksdale, MS
Richard Ford Marker Photo.jpg
September 2, 2021
Willie Morris Yazoo Triangle CenterYazoo City, MS
Willie Morris Writers Trail Marker.jpg
June 4, 2022
Stark Young Emily J Pointer Public LibraryComo, MS
Mississippi Writers Trail marker in honor of Stark Young installed outside the public library in Como, Mississippi. Stark Young Marker.jpg
Mississippi Writers Trail marker in honor of Stark Young installed outside the public library in Como, Mississippi.
November 12, 2022

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudora Welty</span> American short story writer, novelist and photographer (1909–2001)

Eudora Alice Welty was an American short story writer, novelist and photographer who wrote about the American South. Her novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973. Welty received numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Order of the South. She was the first living author to have her works published by the Library of America. Her house in Jackson, Mississippi has been designated as a National Historic Landmark and is open to the public as a house museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Endowment for the Humanities</span> Agency of the US government supporting the humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965, dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. The NEH is housed at 400 7th St SW, Washington, D.C. From 1979 to 2014, NEH was at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C., in the Nancy Hanks Center at the Old Post Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Humanities Medal</span> American award for contributions to Humanities

The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the humanities, or helped preserve and expand Americans' access to important resources in the humanities."


The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) is an advisory committee to the President of the United States on cultural issues. It works directly with the White House and the three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), as well as other federal partners and the private sector, to advance wide-ranging policy objectives in the arts and humanities. These include considerations for how the arts and humanities sectors can positively impact community well-being, economic development, public health, education, civic engagement, and climate change across the United States. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Spencer (writer)</span> American writer (1921–2019)

Elizabeth Spencer was an American writer. Spencer's first novel, Fire in the Morning, was published in 1948. She wrote a total of nine novels, seven collections of short stories, a memoir, and a play. Her novella The Light in the Piazza (1960) was adapted for the screen in 1962 and transformed into a Broadway musical of the same name in 2005. She was a five-time recipient of the O. Henry Award for short fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Cole</span> American art historian

Bruce Milan Cole was a longtime professor of art history at Indiana University, a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a member of the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, and the eighth Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

William Reynolds Ferris Jr. is an American author and scholar and former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. With Judy Peiser he co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore in Memphis, Tennessee; he was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, and is co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippi Blues Trail</span> Historic trail in Mississippi

The Mississippi Blues Trail was created by the Mississippi Blues Commission in 2006 to place interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the birth, growth, and influence of the blues throughout the state of Mississippi. Within the state the trail extends from the Gulf Coast north along several highways to Natchez, Vicksburg, Jackson, Leland, Greenwood, Clarksdale, Tunica, Grenada, Oxford, Columbus, and Meridian. The largest concentration of markers is in the Mississippi Delta, but other regions of the state are also commemorated. Several out-of-state markers have also been erected where blues with Mississippi roots has had significance, such as Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A Worn Path</span> Short story by Eudora Welty

"A Worn Path" by Eudora Welty is a short story about an elderly African American woman who undertakes a familiar journey on a road in a rural area to acquire medicine for her grandson. She expresses herself, both to her surroundings and in short spurts of spoken monologue, warning away animals and expressing the pain she feels in her weary bones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eudora Welty House</span> United States historic place

The Eudora Welty House & Garden, at 1119 Pinehurst Street in Jackson, Mississippi, was the home of author Eudora Welty for nearly 80 years. It was built by her parents in 1925. Welty and her mother built and tended to the garden located at the side and back of the home over decades. Welty could often be found writing in her bedroom or on the porch, which frequently hosted her peers in writing. The house was first declared a Mississippi Landmark in 2001, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, and declared a National Historic Landmark in 2004.

The Missouri Humanities Council, also known as Missouri Humanities (MH), is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization that was created in 1971 under authorizing legislation from the U.S. Congress to serve as one of the 56 state and territorial humanities councils that are affiliated with the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spark Media</span>

Spark Media is an American independent multimedia and documentary production house based in Washington, D.C., United States.

Hubert Creekmore was an American poet and writer from the small Mississippi town of Water Valley. Creekmore was born into one of the oldest Southern families of the area but he would grow up to embody ideals very different from the conservative Southern principles by which he was raised.

The Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities is an honorary lecture series established in 1972 by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). According to the NEH, the Lecture is "the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hao Huang (pianist)</span> American concert pianist

(Tseng) Hao Huang (黄俊豪) is a Hakka Chinese American concert pianist, published scholar, narrator, playwright, composer and the Bessie and Cecil Frankel Endowed Chair in Music at Scripps College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities</span> Nonprofit organization in New Orleans, United States

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the education of residents of the state of Louisiana. In its mission, the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities pledges to provide access to and promote an appreciation of the history of Louisiana and its literary and cultural history. It was founded in 1972 as a result of initial funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The literature of Mississippi, United States, includes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. Mississippi has a literary tradition that arose from a diverse mix of cultures and races. Traditional themes from this genre of literature lean towards the past, conflict and change, and southern history in general; however, in the modern era, work have shifted towards deeply Southern works that do not rely on these traditional themes.

The Mississippi Arts Commission is an independent agency of the Mississippi state government and serves as the state's official grants-making and arts service agency. The Mississippi Arts Commission provides grant funding to both individual artists and organizations across the state. The agency was established by the Mississippi Legislature in 1968. The founding director, who was appointed by Governor John Bell Williams, was Lida Rogers. The current executive director is Malcolm White.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Parrish Peede</span>

Jon Parrish Peede is an American book editor and literary review publisher, who served as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities from 2018 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia Evans Reed</span>

Julia Evans Reed was a Mississippi Delta born author, journalist, columnist, speaker, and socialite. Reed wrote several books on cooking, entertaining, and affluent southern lifestyle and culture.

References

  1. "First Chapter of Mississippi Writers Trail Begins - MDA". Mississippi Development Authority. 2018-08-16. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  2. "The Eudora Welty Foundation » Dedication of Welty Marker on Mississippi Writers Trail To Feature NEH Chair Jon Peede" . Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  3. Mitchell, Jerry. "Mississippi literary trail unmarked". The Clarion Ledger. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  4. "NEH Creates "Statehood Grants" of up to $30,000 for Humanities Projects Celebrating State History". National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  5. staffreport (2019-07-02). "2019 Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area Grants Announced". News and Events. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  6. "27th Annual Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival to Unveil Mississippi Writers Trail Marker at Cutrer Mansion on October 17". News-Template. Retrieved 2019-11-16.
  7. "Mississippi Writers Trail". Mississippi Arts Commission. Retrieved 2019-11-15.