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■SI EWSLETTE,R
A PUBLICATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ARCHIVES AND HISTORY
SPECIAL ISSUE
Volume 53, No. 5
Newsletter
Highlights
Local
Projects
In the spring of 2011, the Department of Archives and History began visiting local historical and genealogical societies around the state to learn more about grassroots preservation, museum, and genealogical efforts, and to let those groups know about services the department offers that could aid those projects. Trey Porter, director of Community Relations, met with more than a dozen groups throughout the year and has more site visits scheduled for 2012. If you would like to invite a member of the MDAH staff to attend a meeting of your group, call 601-576-6809 or email tporter@mdah. state, ms.us.
This special issue of the Mississippi History Newsletter focuses on some of the projects being carried out by groups across the state, such as the recently
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MHS Meeting Theme “War of 1812
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The 2012 meeting of the Mississippi Historical Society will be held March 1-3 in Columbus on the campus of Mississippi University for Women. The theme of the meeting will be the bicentennial of the War of 1812, and presentations will examine the battle for the southern frontier, Mississippi’s American Indians, the Natchez Trace, and local history projects
A public reception at the historic Greek Revival townhouse Whitehall will begin the meeting on Thursday, March 1 at 5 p.m. On Friday evening, March 2, author Robert V. Haynes will give the banquet address, ‘“Some Dark Mysterious Business’: Aaron Burr in Mississippi Territory” Haynes’ book The Mississippi Territory and the Southwest Frontier, 1795-1817 won the society’s McLemore Prize for book of the year in 2010.
At the March 2 luncheon Daniel P. Jordan will pres-
Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the nonprofit organization that
The Yazoo County Historical Society received the MHS 2011 Frank E. Everett Award for its outstanding contributions to the preservation and interpretation of Mississippi history. MHS awards committee chair William Parrish (left) presented the award to YCHS secretary-treasurer Sue Patterson, vice president John E. Ellzey, and president Bettye Crout.
ent “Our History Matters.” A native Mississippian, Jordan is president emeritus of the
owns and operates Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson.
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Prentiss Society Aids with Cemetery
Fundraiser Organized to Repair Damage Draws Hundreds to Tour
What began as a way to raise money to pay for repairs to vandalized grave markers in the Boon-eville City Cemetery turned into a community event so successful that plans have already been made to hold it again. On October 14, 2011, some three hundred people attended the Prentiss County Genealogical and Historical Society’s first Historic Booneville Cemetery Tour.
The twenty-acre cemetery, located near the
center of the town on King Street, has more than four thousand interments. The oldest grave is that of Sarah Price from 1855. More than 225 veterans are buried there, and the cemetery also features a separate potter’s field—or pauper’s section—in the back corner.
On June 4, 2011, about forty markers in the cemetery were vandalized. Much of the damage was minor, but the oldest markers suffered the most. No money was available to make repairs, so members of the PCG&HS decided to organize a fundraiser. Soon city government, local schools, Boy and Girl Scout troops, and many other businesses, individuals, and groups were pitching in.
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