Collection of Nineteenth-century Papers Donated to Archives
 A collection of papers from a prominent nineteenth-century Mississippi family has been donated to the state archives. Donald and Ola Mae Dana, from Long Beach, made the presentation of personal and business papers from the Foxworth family at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson. Among the items in the collection are in-kind receipts from the Confederate Army, account statements, teachers' contracts, a land deed, postcards, photographs, and a book of poetry by Sophia Graves Foxworth-Donald Dana's great-great-great aunt.
Of particular interest are seven slave bills of sale of Samuel G. Foxworth for Forrest, Marion, Newton, and Simpson counties in Mississippi and Robeson County, N.C., dating 1844-57.
"The bills of sale list the names of both slaves and sellers, as well as locations and dates," said Alanna Patrick, head of Paper Archives. "These will be invaluable tools for researchers tracing African American genealogy."
"We are indebted to the Danas for this generous donation," said Archives and Library Division director Julia Marks Young. "The papers will be made available to the public and preserved for future generations."
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History collects, preserves, and makes available the archival resources of the state, including official government records, books and manuscripts related to Mississippi history, personal papers, newspapers, newsfilm, audio recordings, photographs, and more. These materials are available to the public free of charge at the Winter Building, on the corner of North and Amite Streets in downtown Jackson. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Local Historical Society Donates History, Genealogy Works
 A reprint of a long-unavailable county history and a new compilation of marriage records have been donated to the state archives. The Amite County Historical and Genealogical Society made the presentation of Selected History of Amite County, Mississippi and Amite County Marriage Records at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson. The books will be cataloged and made available to researchers.
"These materials represent a tremendous effort on the Amite County Historical and Genealogical Society's part, and we are delighted to receive them for our collection," said Archives and Library Division director Julia Marks Young.
From 1936 to 1939, writers employed with the WPA gathered county information and histories in Mississippi. Only three sets of the original printing dealing with Amite County are known to exist. The ACHGS owns a set and has used it to reproduce the work under the title Selected History of Amite County, Mississippi. Subject headings include Slavery Days, Formation, Indians, Early Schools, Officials, Churches, Agriculture, Homes, Transportation, Pioneer Doctors, Wars and Men that Served, Outlaw Days, Burial Customs, and more.
ACHGS president Oma J. Gordon's two-volume Amite County Marriage Records covers the years 1809-1913 and 1914-2000.
"We especially appreciate the contribution made by Oma Gordon in compiling more than 14,500 marriage records that span nearly two centuries," said Jane Phillips, head of Published Information at the Department of Archives and History. "This will be an invaluable tool for researchers for many years to come."
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History collects, preserves, and makes available the archival resources of the state, including official government records, books and manuscripts related to Mississippi history, personal papers, newspapers, newsfilm, audio recordings, photographs, and more. These materials are available to the public free of charge at the Winter Building, on the corner of North and Amite Streets in downtown Jackson. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Treasure Trove of Welty Film Footage Found, Donated
A collection of the earliest video footage to date of Eudora Welty has been given to the Department of Archives and History. The 16mm film was shot in Jackson in 1974-5 as part of the PBS series "The Writer in America." The reels, containing more than five hours of raw footage, had been in storage at the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C. Only a few minutes of the film have been seen by the public.
 Dana Gioia, chairman of the NEA, presented the film to MDAH at a press conference in Jackson on August 24, calling the find "the greatest American literary discovery this year." The footage shows Welty reading several of her stories, as well as Welty in her house, in her garden, and driving through Jackson. The footage has not been viewed in its entirety since being found by the NEA to prevent possible damage to the thirty-two-year-old film.
The NEA is also providing a $10,000 grant to conserve the film and make a high-quality digital copy. After the digital copy is completed, MDAH will make it available to the public at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson and at the Eudora Welty House visitor's center.
In 1957 Eudora Welty donated a collection of her manuscripts, papers, and photographs to the Department of Archives and History. She continued to donate materials to MDAH throughout the rest of her life. Today the Eudora Welty Collection is an important archival collection, visited by scholars and students from around the world. In 1986 Welty made the decision that the state should have her house at her death. In April 2006 the house opened as a literary house museum.
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History collects and preserves the archival resources of the state, including official government records, books and manuscripts related to Mississippi history, personal papers, newspapers, newsfilm, audio recordings, photographs, and more. These materials are available to the public free of charge at the Winter Building. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For more information call 601-576-6850.
Archives Receives $227K Grant for Newsfilm Collection
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History will use a federal grant of nearly a quarter-million dollars to preserve an irreplaceable civil rights film collection. The Department of the Interior has awarded a Save America's Treasures grant of $227,000 to MDAH to digitize its WLBT Newsfilm Collection, an important documentary source of the civil rights movement in the South from 1954-1971. The matching grant requires MDAH to provide personnel and facilities as well as additional funds.
The WLBT Newsfilm Collection is one of the department's most frequently used—appearing in the award-winning documentaries "Eyes on the Prize" and "The Murder of Emmett Till," as well as in Tom Brokaw's recent NBC News report "Separate and Unequal." The collection has been utilized by the FBI and the state attorney general's office in civil rights cases. The collection includes footage of such nationally significant events as the arrival of the Freedom Riders, the Capitol Street Boycott, and James Meredith's enrollment at the University of Mississippi, as well as civil rights leaders Stokely Carmichael, Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Martin Luther King.
The film was shot on location in Jackson and surrounding areas by WLBT news crews and donated to MDAH in 1980. Only about ten percent of the film and videotapes produced by local broadcast stations 1950-1975 survives in public institutions. The vast majority was discarded when the stations transitioned from film to videotape.
The grant spans a three-year period, beginning September 1, 2006. During the first two years MDAH will inspect, clean, and repair the original 16mm film. Digitization will begin in the third year, after which the film will be placed into cold storage to slow deterioration. Equipment purchased through this grant will allow the department to digitize six additional newsfilm collections after the grant period has ended.
MDAH, Tougaloo Partner to Conserve Civil Rights Collection
 An important collection of primary documents from the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi will soon be available to the public at the state archives. Tougaloo College's Civil Rights Collection—photographs, personal papers, oral histories, and other memorabilia—will be moving to the William F. Winter Archives and History Building, where it will be cataloged and made available to the public.
The two organizations have agreed to a partnership whereby Tougaloo will retain ownership of the collection while loaning it to the Department of Archives and History, which will house, conserve, and maintain the collection while also offering it to the public at its new state-of-the-art archival facility completed last year in downtown Jackson.
The Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection will join the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Collection, donated in 2002 by Myrlie Evers-Williams and available to the public spring 2004.
MDAH Awarded National Grant to Preserve Films
The Department of Archives and History has been awarded a grant to preserve a collection of amateur films shot in the 1940s by Robert A. McLure, a Delta farmer. The $3,234 grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation will fund the conservation of the black-and-white silent films, which document the state during its transition from labor-intensive manual farming to mechanized methods.
The collection consists of four silent black-and-white films shot on 8mm and 16mm film. A film shot in 1944 of field workers in Coahoma County shows the manpower necessary to grow cotton at the time. A 1947 film shows mechanization beginning to replace human labor in the cotton fields. The film titled "Clarksdale Dusting Co." shows footage of a converted military airplane that is thought to have been the first plane used for spraying pesticides. Also documented in the collection is a rare snowstorm that swept across north Mississippi on January 5, 1944.
Preston Everett, audiovisual curator, MDAH, will work with Colorlab in Rockville, Maryland, on the conservation project, which will include cleaning and remounting the films and creating a film negative, duplicate print, and digital copy. The films will be available for viewing in the William F. Winter Archives and History Building in Jackson when the project is completed.
The films were donated to MDAH by McLure's daughters Joy Coker, of Munford, Alabama, and Ann Saucier, of Laurel. Robert McLure was the uncle of Donna Dye, former director of the Old Capitol Museum of Mississippi History. Dye first approached the family and suggested they donate the films to the state archives.
|
