2009 Annual Report

Welty Centennial Attracts International Attention

MDAH celebrated the centennial of Eudora Welty's birth this year with a series of events that culminated in April when Governor Haley Barbour cut a birthday cake in the Welty House garden.

In other highlights, an exhibit of Welty's photographs was mounted at the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan before moving to the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson and the Lauren Rogers Museum of Art in Laurel. The Eudora Welty House was inducted into the Southern Literary Trail, which features legendary writers and playwrights and their homes in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia.

The Southern Literary Festival celebrated Welty's birthday with public readings by noted authors Richard Ford, Elizabeth Spencer, and Ann Patchett, as well as a Welty Tribute Concert featuring nationally known singer-songwriters Mary Chapin Carpenter, Kate Campbell, Caroline Herring, and Claire Holley. Other events included production of Welty's "The Ponder Heart" at New Stage Theatre and a concert, "Adoring Eudora," performed by the Mississippi Symphony.

The Welty Centennial attracted international publicity and drew thousands of visitors to Jackson to tour the house and participate in special events. On behalf of these many visitors, I thank the Governor and the Mississippi Legislature for their commitment to the preservation of the Eudora Welty House.

In August, MDAH welcomed the public into the Eudora Welty Education and Visitors Center, next door to the Welty House, to view brand new permanent exhibits on Welty's life and work. The exhibits were generously funded by the Phil Hardin Foundation.

Teachers View Welty Materials at Winter Building

More than one hundred teachers were invited to the Archives for a special viewing of selected Eudora Welty materials. The teachers had traveled from across the country to attend the National Endowment for the Humanities' 2008 Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshop.

MDAH Reaches Over 100,000 with Traveling Exhibits and Programs