Mississippi Historical Society
March 6-7, 2025
Two Mississippi Museums, Jackson
Thursday, March 6
All sessions are at the Two Mississippi Museums. Early registration is $60 for MHS members and $95 for non-members. Registration after Friday, February 28, 2025, is $85 for MHS members and $120 for nonmembers.
10:30 a.m. Registration
11:00 a.m. Annual Business Meeting
12:00 p.m. Opening Session and Luncheon
- Presiding: Rebecca Tuuri, President, Mississippi Historical Society
- Welcome: Katie Blount, Director, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi
- Keynote Speaker: Carlton W. Reeves, District Judge, Southern District of Mississippi
2:30 p.m. Session I – Breaking the Silence: The Emmett Till Interpretive Center and the Journey to Truth-telling and Racial Healing
- Daphne Chamberlain, Chief Program Officer
- Venita Halbert, Community Engagement Officer
- Jessie Jaynes-Diming, Founding Member of the Emmett Till Memorial Commission
- Jay Rushing, Youth Engagement Director
- Benjamin Saulsberry, Director of Public Engagement & Museum Education
3:45 p.m. Break
4:00 p.m. Session II – Historical Perspectives on Millsaps College
- Andrew Marion, Teaching Fellow in History & Associate Director for Student Engagement, "Quiet Reckonings and Pathways for Further Inquiry at Millsaps College"
- Matthew Coleman, Millsaps Class of 2024, "Millsaps College and its Role in the Civil Rights Movement"
- Ricky James, Dean of the Chapel & Director of Church Relations and Campus Ministry, "The Vision for Mississippi Wesleyan College"
- Connor Sutton, Millsaps College Class of 2025, "Digging up the Past: The Exodus of JSU from State Street"
5:30 p.m. President's Happy Hour
6:30 p.m. Banquet and Remarks from Book of the Year Award Winner
- Presiding: Roscoe Barnes III, Vice President, Mississippi Historical Society
- Journal of Mississippi History Article of the Year Award
- Outstanding Thesis Award
- Outstanding Dissertation Award
- Book of the Year Award Presentation: Kristi DiClemente, Associate Professor of History, Mississippi University for Women
- Award Winner: TBA
Friday, March 7
9:00 a.m. Session III – Uncovering Hidden Stories of Mississippi
- Cassandra Hawkins, Center for the Study of Southern Culture, University of Mississippi, "Documenting the Voices of African American Women in Mississippi's Rural Communities"
- Josh Foreman, Mississippi State University, "John Blommart and the American Revolution in Natchez"
- Christopher T. Slocombe, Brown Talbot College Preparatory School, "Charles McDougall, Henry Halleck, and the Emergence of Modern Medical Infrastructure in the Civil War's Western Theater"
10:15 a.m. Break
10:30 a.m. Session IV – The Impact of John Dittmer's Scholarship on Civil Rights in Mississippi
- Moderator: Robert Luckett, Professor and Director, Margaret Walker Center, Jackson State University
- Emilye Crosby, Professor of History, State University of New York Geneseo
- Francoise Hamlin, Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies, Brown University
- Christina Thomas Mellon Visiting Scholar, Jackson State University
12:00 p.m. Awards Luncheon
- Presiding: Rebecca Tuuri, President, Mississippi Historical Society
- Presentation of Awards
- Lifetime Achievement
- Awards of Merit
- Excellence in History Award
- Outstanding Local Historical Society
- Teacher of the Year
- Introduction of President-elect and passing of the gavel
2:30 p.m. Historic Tours
- Eudora Welty House & Garden
- Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home National Monument
- Two Mississippi Museums Collections Tour