Mississippi Delta

blog.preservationnation.org/2013/04/03/mississippi-delta-tour-tells-the-stories-of-civil-war-civil-rights-and-the-blues/

Ode to the Mississippi Delta
msdeltaheritage.org

Hello Everyone:

I noticed today that we're up to 1700 page views.  As always my gratitude to is boundless.  Can we do 2000?  I think we're up to the challenge.  I keep writing and you keep reading.  Before I launch into today's topic, I just want to let you know that I've created a board with images from Peter Zumthor and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.  Some of the images did not appear in yesterday's post so check it out at http://www.pinterest.com/glamtroy and please follow me.  On to today's topic.

Map of the Mississippi Delta
memphistnone.blogspot.com

Today's topic is inspired by the  upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the historic March on Washington D.C.  The march, is perhaps, best known as the moment when the late Reverend Martin Luther King gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech.  It was no doubt an auspicious moment in American and world history.  The march took place on August 28, 1963 on the Mall in Washington D.C. in front of the Lincoln Memorial and was the single largest demonstration in American history at that point.  It's not my intention today to go into an in depth history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, rather, I would like to focus on the Mississippi Delta Region and its role in American culture and history.

The Mississippi Delta is a culturally and historically rich region with stories of the Civil War, Civil Rights, and the blues.  These stories run deep as the Mississippi River itself and tell the tale of a special time and place.  The Mississippi Delta is place that has often been romanticized in song, poetry, and prose.  The delta was a very real place that saw both good and bad times.  It is still a place of incredible hardship but throughout its history, the events and people that have come out this storied region have changed the course of American history for both good and bad.  The coming autumn, the National Historic Preservation Trust (http://www.preservationnation.org) and the Mississippi Delta Heritage Area (http://www.msdeltaheritage.org) will be inviting visitors for a week-long tour of this fable region.  The tour is set to take place from September 28, 2013 through October 4, 2013.  If you love the blues and want to learn more about the REAL history of the American south, then check out this excursion that will take you to antebellum homes, a Civil War battle field and the last remaining juke joint in the South.  Lucky tour goers get to sample real Delta cuisine (no diets allowed), enjoy blues performances, and hear the stories of people who made history.  Here's just a sample of what you'll see.

Vicksburg National Military Park
commons.wikimedia.org

Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS was established in 1899 and tells the story of the Battle of Vicksburg.  The Siege of Vicksburg lasted from May 18 to July 4, 1863 (the same day as the Gettysburg Address) and was the final major military campaign in Vicksburg.  The Union forces, led by General (later President) Ulysses S. Grant and his Army of Tennessee crossed the Mississippi River and drove the Confederate Army of Vicksburg, led by Lt. General John C. Pemberton into the defensive lines around the city.  The siege began on May 25, 1863.  Confederate forces held out for forty days before surrendering on July 4.  The story of the battle and siege are told through 1,325 monuments, a Union gunboat, reconstructed forts and trenches, and exhibits.  The Vicksburg National Cemetery, country's largest burial site of Union soldiers, is located in the park.  If you visit, please make sure you pay your respects to the soldiers of both sides of the war.

B.B. King Museum and  Delta Interpretative Center
bbkingmuseum.org

Do you love the blues?  Then you're in for a real treat at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretative Center (http://www.bbkingmuseum.org).  Demerit points if you don't who this king of rhythm and blues is.  I had the very distinct pleasure of seeing King B.B. perform once along with his naughty twin Buddy Guy and let me tell you it was one the most amazing cultural experiences of my life.  The music just touches a deep place in the soul, lifting you higher and higher.  It captures every human emotion, the hard times and the good times.  Little wonder the blues became associated with the Civil Rights Movement.  Here's a really cool fact, rhythm and blues gave birth to Jazz and Rock and Roll.  The B.B. King Museum is located in Indianola, MS and gives visitors a chance to explore King B.B.'s life and career.

Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Garden
wsoutherland.com
 

I was first introduced to Fannie Lou Hamer in Professor Simon Schama's amazing book The American Future (http://www.amazon.com).  BUY IT.  Ms Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader.  She was instrumental in organizing the Mississippi Freedom Summer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.  Ms. Hamer attended the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey as the Vice-Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party in effort to draw attention to the plight of African-Americans in Mississippi.  With her plain-spoken righteousness, she demanded that the Freedom Democrats be seated at the convention in exchange for their support of Lyndon Johnson's nomination.  The memorial garden is located in Rufeville, MS and was established by local residents to honor Fannie Lou Hamer, who bring the vote to African-Americans in Mississippi in the 1960s.

Goodman, Chaney, Schwerner Memorial
searchinghistoricalhorizons.wordpress.com

I seriously doubt the memorial to slain Civil Rights workers Andrew Goodman, James Chaney, and Michael Schwerner will be a stop on the tour but it's worth the visit.  This headstone, located in Neshoba County, MS, is dedicated to the three Civil Rights workers who were kidnapped and lynched by the local Ku Klux Klan on June 21-22, 1964.  The trio had been part of the Freedom Summer Campaign, which attempted to register African-Americans to vote.  Their murders created a national outrage and a massive FBI investigation began, uncovering the bodies forty-four days later.  The furor caused by the murders helped passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  I hope the Supreme Court of the United States remembered their sacrifice when they recently voted to nullify a key provision of the Voting Rights Act.

Tennessee Williams Neighborhood
deltabohemian.com

If you are a lover of theater then Tennessee Williams Neighborhood in Clarksdale, MS is the place for you.  Tennessee Williams is, in my not so humble opinion, one the greats of literature.  Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer mainly known for his plays The Glass Menagerie and A Streetcar Named Desire, was also a prolific author of short stories, novels, essays, and screenplays.  His plays and stories captured the expression of brute nature.  For example, one of his most famous characters  Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, is based on his memories as a factory co-worker and his nervous breakdown as a young man.  Visitors have an opportunity to tour the historic district including the church where Tennessee Williams' grandfather acted as the rector.

These are just some of the many places commemorating the events and people that shaped American culture and history.  They tell the tales of joy and sorrow; happiness and pain; good times and hardship.  Most of all they are part of what makes up American history and culture as well as contribute to global history and culture.

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