This text was obtained via automated optical character recognition.
It has not been edited and may therefore contain several errors.

---

HISTORY
INI EWSLETTER
Spring 2015
Volume 58, No. 1
Legislature, Donors Provide 2MM Funds
The Mississippi Legislature has approved $20 million in bonds to complete the construction of the 2 Mississippi Museums and to begin the fabrication and installation of exhibits. Department director Katie Blount commented. “We are grateful for the Legislature’s ongoing commitment to this important project, and we’re excited about this latest milestone on the road to opening the museums to the public. The department will seek additional funding next year to complete the exhibits and furnish the building.”
Since January 2015 the department has received $3.35 million in private donations for the project. On January 9 the Craig
H.	Neilsen Foundation and philanthropist Ray Neilsen committed $2.5 million to the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. In a joint announcement on February 10, Trustmark CEO Jerry Host and Butler Snow chairman Don Clark made commitments of $500,000 and $350,000 respectively.
The Neilsen Foundation was established in 2002 by Craig H. Neilsen, the founder of Ameristar Casinos who died in 2006. A Mis-
Former governor Haley Barbour speaks from the construction site at the Feb. 10 announcement.
sissippi resident, Ray Neilsen is president of the real estate development firm Neilsen & Company and co-trustee and chairman of the board of the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation.
“I share my late father’s commitment to
the principles of diversity and inclusion, and I am honored to support the history—and the future—of our state in this way,” said Ray Neilsen.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Emancipation Symposium April 15-17 in Jackson
Music, Lectures, Live Theater Events Planned at Sites
As the nation remembers the conclusion of the Civil War, Mississippi Jubilee, a celebration of the 150th anniversary of emancipation, will be held April 15-17, in Jackson. Activities will range from musical and theatrical performances at Smith Robertson Museum and Cul-
tural Center and the Mississippi Museum of Art to symposia at the Old Capitol Museum and Tougaloo College.
“There was no more important watershed event in Mississippi’s history,” said Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, one of the co-sponsoring organizations. “Emancipation transformed the lives of all Mississippians, the majority of whom had been enslaved. This free symposium will bridge the
worlds of academia and the general public, bringing leading scholars to explain the continuing resonance of this crucial period.”
An opening reception on Wednesday, April 15, at 6 p.m. at Smith Robertson will showcase the history of African American music from slave songs to the present with live performances throughout the museum. Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber will make welcoming remarks.
“The word jubilee is befitting
for this event because the liberation was a mass celebration of freedom for the African,” said Pamela Junior, Smith Robertson director. “This is a time to reflect on the feelings of our ancestors of the great jubilee of freedom and understand the spirit and meaning of this word in the twenty-first century. 1 am very excited about the City of Jackson and Smith Robertson co-sponsoring this magnificent celebration.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 4