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Constitution, Flag in Traveling Exhibit
On December 10,1817, Mississippi became the nation’s twentieth state. In 2016 a new traveling exhibit featuring the first US flag to include the new state and Mississippi’s first constitution will tour the state to celebrate the approaching bicentennial.
“Thousands of Mississippians will see these treasures in their courthouses, libraries, and other community spaces,” said Mississippi Department of Archives and History director Katie Blount. “We are excited to partner with local groups in commemorating two hundred years of statehood by taking these incredibly significant artifacts directly to the people.”
The state of Mississippi was founded upon the 1817 constitution. On March 1, 1817, President James Madison signed legislation enabling inhabitants of the western portion of the Mississippi Territory to form a constitution and state government, while the eastern part would become a new territory. Forty-eight convention delegates assembled near Natchez in Washington on July 7, drafting the constitution and, after weeks of deliberation, adopting it on August 15.
“It’s amazing to look at the actual paper with the signatures of those early Mississippians,” said MDAH Archives and Records Services director Julia Marks Young. “There is no substitute for the firsthand connection to history that original documents like this can give us.”
The rare 20-star flag is one of only a handful known to exist. It was acquired by
MDAH in 2001 after having been discovered in an antique shop in Massachusetts. An extensive conservation was completed earlier this year on the large banner, funded by a grant from the Billups-Garth Foundation in Columbus and private donations. The flag has been mounted inside a frame to protect it and allow it to be displayed upright.
“There were only two United States flags used before this one,” said MDAH director of collections Cindy Gardner. “The first had thirteen stars and stripes to represent the original colonies and flew from 1777 until 1795. The second flag added two stars and two stripes and flew until ours became the official United States Flag on April 13,1818.”
MDAH will deliver the flag and constitution along with interpretive signs and other
information and resources. The artifacts will be exhibited in each of ten communities for one to two days and will be accompanied by two MDAH staff. Communities interested in partnering with the department to host the exhibit can find site specifications and other details at the MDAH website, mdah.state.ms.us, or by contacting Cindy Gardner at cgardner@mdah.state.ms.us or 601-576-6901.
Natchez Literary, Cinema Celebration Feb. 26-27
“Natchez at 300: A River Runs by It” will be the title of the 27th annual Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, which will honor the tricentennial of the founding of the city. Senior associate director of the Center for the Study of the American South William Ferris will present the keynote address on Friday, February 26, “The Mississippi River: Memory and Sense of Place.”. Other featured speakers that day include United States Senator Thad Cochran and scholars G. Douglas Inglis, Christopher
Morris, Jim Wiggins, Lynette Tanner, and Dennis Harried.
John M. Barry, author of Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, will be the keynote speaker on Saturday, February 27. Other presentations that day include the awarding of the Richard Wright Literary Excellence Award to journalist Jerry Mitchell and author Suzanne Marrs and a panel discussion moderated by University of Mississippi professor of history emeritus David Sansing.
The Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration is sponored by Copiah-Lincoln Community College, the Mississippi Humanities Council, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, with support from Natchez National Historical Park.
Most programs of the NLCC are free of charge. Ticketed events on February
26	include a reception at the Natchez Museum of Afro-American Culture ($10 at the door) and a musical interlude
at the historic Temple B’Nai Israel ($10 at the door).
Ticketed events on February
27	include the luncheon “Be Inspired: The Mighty Mississippi and her Food” at the Carriage House at Stanton Hall, that will feature foods of the old Natchez District ($30 per ticket) and a benefit cocktail buffet honoring speakers and award winners at the Elms ($60).
For more information or to purchase tickets, call 601-446-1208 or email NLCC@ colin.edu.