While lounging around on vacation last week, and when not sitting on the white sandy beaches (NO OIL!!) of Northwest Florida (this has been a non-paid advertisement for the Gulf Coast tourism industry), I had a chance to catch up on some new internet sites that might of interest to avid MissPresers and non-avid MissPresers alike.
First, the joint Greenville/Washington County Historic Preservation Commission has gotten its new website up and running, and it’s becoming one of my favorites. In addition to a snazzy but easy-to-navigate design, the site contains lots of information about historic sites in Greenville and the rest of the county. This joint commission, which I think is the first of its kind in the state, is not that old, but they’ve already done a lot of work to gather good photos and relevant information for each National Register-listed site, along with other historic but not necessarily listed buildings that might be of interest.
Since I’m a fan of transparency in government and especially in preservation, I especially love that the commission is using this site to publish its minutes for each meeting–I wish all city/county/state/federal/etc. commissions would do the same. They even have a picture of their commission–isn’t that a great way to bring the humanity back to preservation?
Check out the site at http://www.jgwchpc.com, and I’ve added that to the Mississippi Preservation Organizations list over on the right side of this blog so you can come back to it when you need to.
It looks like the Mississippi Department of Archives and History has put its toe in the blogging waters, as its home page announces its new blog “A Sense of Place.” It’s called a “Collections Blog” so I’m not sure whether it will deal much or at all with preservation–we shall see. This is what the blog says about itself:
Welcome to “A Sense of Place,” the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s new blog, where we will explore historic documents, photographs, artifacts, and sites that tell the story of our state.
On some days the blog will highlight specific dates and events in Mississippi history. At other times we will present an interesting item from the collection. Check back regularly and explore the rich history of Mississippi with us.
You can subscribe by either e-mail or RSS feed, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for any tidbits that might be of interest to MissPresers.
Next, my wish would be for MDAH to add a minutes feature to its site like the Greenville/Washington County folks have–it would be interesting and informative, I’m sure, to read the minutes of the MDAH Board of Trustees and see all the preservation issues they deal with.
Categories: Greenville, MS Dept. of Archives and History
Preservation in Mississippi 
Thanks for the plug on our new website. Like you, we realize the broader exposure we can acheive via the web, and hopefully expand into the heritage tourism concept of historic preservation.
LikeLike
The joint Greenville Washington Co website looks like a great site and resource for the community
LikeLike
While someone did point out the Eudora connection for the title, I still find it amusing that the MDAH Archives blog site A Sense of Place is really not about places; only things that represent places and people. Seems like something like Preservation in Mississippi: THE BLOG would be better suited by that colonated title (as all good works of academic work have.) Yes I believe that Preservation in Mississippi: A Sense of Place makes a lot more sense…
On a lighter note, I am reading The Onion’s Our Dumb World (on recommendation by David Sedaris from his Oxford reading last fall) and the section on The South (a world atlas, so it has a little of everything) amuses me…it is satire so I’m not sure everyone could take it…but I’d say it is worth checking out for its full frontal attack on all stereotypes of all peoples around the world.
And while I’m at it Kudos to Greenville Washington County HPC–GREAT project! Thanks for leading the way!
LikeLike
I do crave a colonated title, that’s for sure, and your suggestion of ALL CAPS is even better! Wow, my sense of importance just ratcheted up another couple of notches! ;-)
LikeLike
Thanks for the mention of our new MDAH blog! The blog was initially conceived as more of an archives project, but it is my goal that we highlight the collections of all divisions of the department. I certainly think we can include preservation related items from our Historic Preservation division.
Technically most historic structures aren’t part of MDAH collection, but the historic building files at the Capers building are of interest, and there are also several historic sites, such as the Coker House at Champion Hill battlefield and ongoing projects, such as the restoration of the GM&O railroad depot in Jackson that I’d like to spotlight. We welcome any comments or suggestions! Contact me
LikeLike
I “hid” your e-mail as a link in “Contact me” just in case, so that the evil bots won’t find it and blast you with spam and junk mail.
LikeLike
I’m glad to hear the MDAH blog may include highlights of a few Mississippi places, and information from the historic building files as well. I do think if it is going to be considered an “MDAH blog” that the “Collections Blog” subtitle should go away. Why limit yourself only to “collections” when the agency is supposed to be “comprehensive”? Ditching the subtitle would also give you freedom to highlight other museums and archives around the state and show how MDAH works with all sorts of agencies to preserve the state’s history in interesting ways for the public. Just my two cents, and welcome to the blogosphere! :-)
LikeLike
In limiting the focus, I think we were looking to future MDAH blogs that will cover other aspects and programs of the department. We are gradually expanding our presence online—several of the museum sites have facebook pages now—and as you say, there is a need for more public awareness and access to what we do around the state. We are slowly but surely moving into the digital age!
LikeLike