June Blues Trail Marker Unveilings

The Mississippi Development Authority Tourism Division’s Heritage Trails Program has announced the June Mississippi Blues Trail Marker unveilings.  Updates will follow on the website.  www.msbluestrail.org

 

Jimmy Reed Marker

June 19, 2008 at 4:00 PM

Dunleith, MS

 

 

Big Walter Horton Marker

June 20, 2008 at 10:30 AM

Horn Lake, MS

 

Mississippi Blues Trail Wins Award

The Mississippi Blues Trail was honored with another award this week. On
Wednesday, May 21, 2008 the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau and the
Tunica Chamber of Commerce presented the award to Alex Thomas on behalf of
the MS Blues Commission at the 7th Annual Salute to Tourism & Business 2008
Awards Luncheon. The Mississippi Blues Trail was honored in the Heritage
Tourism Award Category.

Delta State's Delta Center host Heritage Tour

 

Delta State’s Delta Center host Heritage Tour

 

 

CLEVELAND―-As part of the ongoing celebration of The Year of Delta Heritage, Delta State University’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning offered a heritage tour to those attending the Blues Awards at the Grand Casino in Tunica last week. 

 

The Blues pilgrims visited Dockery Farms, the birthplace of the Blues as well as cultural sites along Highways 61, 8, and 49 and enjoyed lunch in Cleveland at The Senator’s Place.  Participants came from Ireland, Canada and a dozen states including California and New York.  Blues Diva Dorothy Moore, from Jackson, also took the tour.

 

Some 1700 Blues enthusiasts attended the awards, which were presented in Mississippi for the very first time. 

 

For more information about the heritage of the Delta or the DSU Year of Delta Heritage, contact the Delta Center at (662) 846-4311.

 

 

 

 

 

Delta Center hosts book signing for 'Highway 61'

 

Delta Center hosts book signing for ‘Highway 61’

 

CLEVELAND— Randy Norris (at left), editor of “Highway 61,” and Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, look over a copy of the book at a book signing event held for Norris.

 

Norris signed copies of his latest volume “Highway 61” which is a collection of stories and essays written by Delta residents, and illustrated with numerous photographs from the Delta.  Morgan Freeman wrote the introduction. The book was published by the University of Tennessee Press. 

 

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning, in conjunction with the Year of Delta Heritage, hosted the book signing which was held in the lobby of Ewing Hall on the campus.

 

 

 

 

Randy Norris will be signing newest volume "Highway 61"

07 May 2008

 

Delta State to host book signing

 

CLEVELAND ―The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning, in conjunction with the Year of Delta Heritage, will host a book signing on Monday, May 12, from 4 to 7 p.m. in the foyer outside the Jacobs Conference Center of Ewing Hall on the campus.

 

Randy Norris will sign copies of his newest volume entitled “Highway 61” which is a collection of stories and essays written by several Delta residents, and illustrated with numerous photographs from the Delta.  Morgan Freeman wrote the introduction.  The book is newly published by the University of Tennessee Press. 

 

The event is free and open to the public, and will appeal to anyone interested in the heritage of the Mississippi Delta.  For more information, contact the Delta Center at (662) 846-4311.

 

 

Delta State's College of Education plans oral history project

25 April 2008

 

Delta State’s College of Education plans oral history project

 

CLEVELAND— The Delta State University College of Education, in celebration of the University’s Year of Delta Heritage theme, is collaborating with the Sunflower County School District to connect the generations through untold stories.

 

The project is also supported through grants from The Mississippi Humanities Council and the Wal-Mart Foundation, as well as support from the Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning, directed by Dr. Luther Brown.

 

Through the project, middle and high school students in Sunflower County schools will be trained to conduct oral history interviews with individuals who came of age or lived during a significant Civil Rights era in the South (1950s – 1960s). The interviews will be produced as a documentary, with future phases of the project to include the development of curriculum to accompany the documentary.

 

Photo cutline: From left: Delta State Division Chair for Teacher Education Dr. Jenetta Waddell, Delta State Dean, College of Education Dr. Leslie Griffin, Assistant Superintendent of Sunflower County School District Dr. Cheryl Pinckney, and Public Relations Coordinator/Grant Writer for Sunflower County School District Carl Brinkley discuss the upcoming Oral History Project.

 

 

DSU Year of Delta Heritage tours art collection

 

DSU Year of Delta Heritage tours art collection

 

CLEVELAND— The Delta State University Year of Delta Heritage recently presented a guided tour of the Viking Range Art Collection.  Delta artist Jim Seale (at right) is curator of the collection and led the tour. Carol Puckett, also pictured, added commentary to the tour and allowed participants to see the pieces that she has personally added to the collection.

 

The collection includes the works of some fifty Delta artists. Each piece was commissioned by Viking Range to hang in the Alluvian Hotel, the Alluvian Spa, or neighboring facilities. 

 

The collection was honored in 2006, when Viking Range received a Governor’s Award from the Mississippi Arts Commission for being an important patron of the arts in the Delta.  The collection includes work by many members of the DSU Art Department, and is the subject of an upcoming book.