As usual, our first “Things to Do This Spring” post just didn’t capture the full range of activities for Mississippi building huggers, so add some of these to your list. As usual, these events have also been added to the MissPres calendar for your scheduling convenience.
First off, you may recall from that post about spring pilgrimage schedules that the Slave Dwelling Project will be in Oxford and Holly Springs at the end of April. Since that post, they’ve added one or maybe two more Mississippi sites to their spring schedule, including a sleepover at Prospect Hill Plantation for those of you ready to shore-nuff rough it.
The Slave Dwelling Project encourages the preservation of slave quarters by sleeping in them overnight and invites the public to join in this preservation-by-immersion event. We hope that you can join us in some of these sleepovers and events in 2018.
- April 17-19: Rowan Oak, Oxford, MS (sleepover by invitation)
- April 19-21: Behind the Big House Tour, Holly Springs, MS (Email to inquire about overnight space: slavedwellingproject@gmail.com. Capacity limited.)
- May 10-14: The Archaeological Conservancy, Natchez, MS (sleepover and presentation)
On the same theme, historian Jobie Hill, founder of the Slave Dwelling Database and savingslavehouses.org will be speaking at the April 18 Brown Bag Lunch lecture series at the University of Mississippi in Oxford:
WHEN: April 18, 2018 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pmWHERE: Barnard ObservatoryCOST: FreeCONTACT: 662.915.5993Jobie Hill
“Saving Slave Houses”Since 2011 Jobie Hill’s research and professional work has focused exclusively on domestic slave buildings. She is engaged in interdisciplinary research examining the dwellings of American slavery, the influence these dwellings had on the lives of their inhabitants, and the preservation of slave history. In 2012 she started an independent project titled the Slave House Database in an effort to ensure that slave houses, irreplaceable pieces of history, are not lost forever.
see also https://www.c-span.org/video/?434699-1/saving-slave-houses-project
If you like to really get your hands dirty, maybe you need to start volunteering with the Friends of the Mississippi River Basin Model in Jackson. This nationally significant engineering model of the Mississippi River Basin covers many acres and has been getting grown over since the Army Corps of Engineers left it in the 1990s. The Friends have organized to clean it back up and put her back like she were, and you could help! Check out their Facebook page to keep up with the monthly cleanup days, and head to Buddy Butts Park this Saturday with gloves and loppers and chainsaws (if you know how to use them).
Clean-Up Day – March 24th (THIS SATURDAY)
Please join us March 24th for our next clean up event. We really need volunteers with equipment like chainsaws. Message us for details. Typical work includes cutting trees, piling debris, picking up trash, clearing pine straw, and sweeping up pathways. We have tasks for all ages and abilities. Start time is 8:00 AM and we will end at Noon.
News and Updates
March 24th Clean Up Day
March 23th to April 25th: AmeriCorp will be sending us a group of volunteers from March 13th to April 25th. This would provided up to a team of 8-12 people working 40 hours a week on the model clean up. We are very excited about this opportunity and will keep you posted on ways to help.
April 21st Clean Up Day
May 12th Clean Up Day
May 19th Movie Night: We are planning a special movie in the model night! We will host a movie and bonfire out at the model with a large projector. The date will be coming soon. If you are interested in serving on this committee email us!
Shaifer House, Claiborne County
The Friends of the Port Gibson Battlefield are hosting a living history event the Shaifer House in Claiborne County on Saturday, April 21:
Come visit the Shaifer House (Holly Hill)* and experience life on a Mississippi homestead in the mid-1800s and the dramatic events that unfolded right here on this quiet corner of land.
See historical demonstrations, first-person interpretations, and enjoy a taste of living history.
This event is free to the general public on Saturday and is open for scheduled school tours/field trips the Friday before general admission.
*The Shaifer House/Holly Hill is owned by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Finally, if you love New Orleans or want to spend more time there even if only in your dreams, you may be interested in attending one of these “Book Talks” about Buildings of New Orleans, the latest offering from the Buildings of the United States book series. I’ve placed both of these on the MissPres calendar for those who are in the neighborhood or need an excuse to make a trip to NOLA. According to the Society of Architectural Historians website:
Book Talks: Buildings of New Orleans
by SAH News | Mar 09, 2018
Authors Karen Kingsley and Lake Douglas will give two presentations on their just-published Buildings of New Orleans, the second city guide to appear in the Society of Architectural Historians’ prize-winning Buildings of the United States series. The first talk will take place on April 3 at the Louisiana Humanities Center in New Orleans, followed by a talk on April 4 at Hill Memorial Library on the Louisiana State University campus in Baton Rouge. Both talks are free and open to the public. Books will be available at the event for purchase.
Buildings of New Orleans, the definitive and most up-to-date guide to the architecture and landscapes of New Orleans, and its publication coincides with the city’s tri-centenary. It traces the story of the city’s urban fabric through descriptions of nearly 300 buildings, parks, open spaces, and lesser-known places that date from the oldest examples to the most recent. Organized into thirteen neighborhood tours, the guidebook also highlights buildings in neighboring parishes and includes three excursions up and down the Mississippi River. The book, illustrated with 175 photographs (most are by the authors) and 23 maps, features buildings both typical and unique that make up the variety and character of the city’s built and natural environments.
Kingsley is Professor Emerata at Tulane University’s School of Architecture, and Douglas is Associate Dean and Professor in LSU’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture; both have published extensively on the history of Louisiana’s built and natural environments.
Tuesday, April 3
6:30 – 8:00 pm
Louisiana Humanities Center
938 Lafayette Street,
New Orleans, LA
REGISTER HEREWednesday, April 4
6:00 – 7:00 pm
Hill Memorial Library
Louisiana State University Campus
Baton Rouge, LA
REGISTER HERE
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Categories: African American History, Antebellum, Heritage Tourism, Historic Preservation, Holly Springs, Jackson, Natchez, Oxford, Preservation People/Events, Renovation Projects
Preservation in Mississippi 
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