Mississippi Historical Society

Join the Society

The Mississippi Historical Society is a non-profit membership organization that works closely with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The society also publishes the online resource Mississippi History Now. The Society provides annual grants to help support programs of the Junior Historical Society and Mississippi Heritage Trust and publish books, maps, and other materials to educate the general public. Membership is open to all. Benefits include receiving the Journal of Mississippi History and the Mississippi History Newsletter. Individual memberships are $25.

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2 Museums to Open in December

The grand opening of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is December 9, 2017. The Museum of Mississippi History encourages people to explore and appreciate our state’s history. The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum promotes a greater understanding of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and its impact by highlighting the strength and sacrifice of its people. Both museums are administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Burnita Shelton Matthews: Suffragist, Feminist, & Judicial Pioneer

by Kathanne (“Kate”) W. Greene

On December 28, 1894, Burnita Shelton Matthews was born into an educated, civic-minded family, in Copiah County, Mississippi. She strategically chose to live and work in Washington, D. C. so that she could pursue a law degree at one of the few law schools that would accept women at the time, the National University Law School. In 1949, President Harry S. Truman nominated Matthews to the U. S. District Court for the District of Columbia. She became the first woman ever appointed to a federal trial court and only the second woman ever appointed to a federal constitutional court. After a long career on the bench, Matthews died of a stroke in 1988. Her headstone in the Shelton Family Cemetery in Copiah County marks her contribution to women in American society. Her epitaph notes that she was the first woman to become a U. S. district court judge and the “author of laws advancing the status of women.”

Mississippi Historical Society

Join the Society

2 Museums to Open in December

Mississippi History Now

Burnita Shelton Matthews: Suffragist, Feminist, & Judicial Pioneer

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