Betty Shaw, president of the Historical Society of Gulfport, shows off her yardstick collection at a recent meeting.
Since the announcement of the list of the 2013 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi in November, I have had the pleasure of speaking with a number of groups about the threats facing historic places in our state and the state of historic preservation in general these days. Time ran away while chatting with the ladies of the Magnolia Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution at their January meeting, we got so caught up in talking about what makes a place worthy of preservation that an hour just flew by. Despite the rainy, cold weather this past Monday night, fifty hardy preservationists of the Pass Christian Historical Society showed up to debate the myriad of possible reasons behind the demolition of treasured places like the Mendenhall High School Auditorium.
Funded by generous grants from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Humanities Council, our fabulous computer kiosk exhibits, which share information about the 10 Most Endangered Historic Places in Mississippi program as well as Save My Place: Mississippi Stories of Restoration and Renewal, are currently touring the state. Perhaps your library, city hall or museum would like to host an exhibit and a talk to spark a community dialogue about historic preservation.
So, give me a call or email and let’s talk about getting together. No power point, no tests-just people who care about what is happening in our beautiful historic towns exploring ways to ensure preservation successes in the future. So, lend me your ears for a little while, I will give them back-full of great preservation ideas!
Lolly Barnes, Executive Director, Mississippi Heritage Trust
601-354-0200 or lolly@mississippiheritage.com
http://www.mississippheritage.com
Categories: Historic Preservation
Preservation in Mississippi 
Leave a Reply