NEH Funds 11th Year for The Delta Center’s Most Southern Workshop

Summer 2019 NEH Most Southern workshop participants and staff gather at the Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Garden in Ruleville, MS.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University is among 11 institutions that have been awarded Landmarks of American History and Culture grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The Delta Center’s “The Most Southern Place On Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta” teacher workshops is the only NEH Landmarks project funded in Mississippi this year.

This is the 11th year that NEH has awarded a grant to The Delta Center at Delta State for hosting the Most Southern workshop. Over the 11 years, NEH has invested nearly $2 million in Delta State and surrounding Mississippi Delta communities through the Most Southern workshop.

The National Humanities Alliance in Washington, D.C., has recognized the Most Southern workshop as a high impact NEH program in several key measurement areas, including enriching k-12 education; providing lifelong learning opportunities for diverse audiences; facilitating community dialogue; fostering local tourism economies; and promoting civic education.

NEH Most Southern workshop participants read the “Black Power” Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker in Greenwood, MS.

This year, NEH also recognized The Delta Center by using the narrative section of its Most Southern workshop proposal as a model for organizations to use when writing NEH landmarks of American history and culture grant applications.

The Delta Center’s award is part of the NEH’s recently announced $30 million in grants for 238 humanities projects across the country. NEH Landmarks grants support two one-week workshops for a national audience of e-12 educators that enhance and strengthen humanities teaching.

“These challenging times underscore how important the humanities are to making American culture and world history relatable across generations,” said NEH Chairman Jon Parrish Peede. “NEH is proud to award hundreds of grants to keep our nation’s scholars, students, teachers, and citizens moving forward in pursuit of new knowledge and understanding.”

This round of funding, NEH’s last for fiscal year 2020, will support vital research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities. These peer-reviewed grants were awarded in addition to $50 million in annual operating support provided to the national network of state and jurisdictional humanities councils.

NEH Most Southern workshop participants experience the flood of 1927 story at the Mississippi River.

“We are honored that NEH has funded our Most Southern Place on Earth teacher workshop for an 11th time,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center and co-director of the workshop. “Our region continues to make considerable strides in cultural heritage development through Delta State and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA). We look forward to immersing our participants in this culturally significant place by engaging them with scholars, performers, and residents who are telling Delta stories through the Blues, the civil rights movement, the food, the land, and the Mississippi River.”The Delta Center will offer two workshops in summer 2021, with 36 k-12 teachers from throughout the U.S. in each cohort. Over the past decade, the NEH Most Southern workshops have developed a dedicated network of more than 700 alumni scholars who serve as educational and cultural ambassadors for Delta State University and the MDNHA. The workshops use an experiential learning approach, engaging participants directly with historically and culturally significant people and places in the MDNHA.

Workshop participants take what they have learned back to their schools and communities, sharing stories and lessons from the MDNHA with students, colleagues, family and friends, nationally and globally. Many past participants have made return visits to the region, bringing students, colleagues, family and friends with them.

“In previous years, we have had participants from Hawaii, California, Illinois, and New York, as well as several scholars from right here in Mississippi,” said Lee Aylward, program associate for education and community outreach at The Delta Center and workshop co-director. “Our alumni are actively engaged with and have enduring respect for The Delta Center, Delta State and the Delta region because of this workshop. Several of them have presented at our International Conference on the Blues and have completed the International Blues Scholars Program, our online Blues Studies certificate.”

The mission of The Delta Center is to promote greater understanding of Mississippi Delta culture and history and its significance to the world through education, partnerships and community engagement. The Delta Center serves as the management entity of the MDNHA and is the home of the International Delta Blues Project and the NEH Most Southern Place on Earth workshop. For more information, visit http://www.deltacenterdsu.com.

The MDNHA is a partnership between the people of the Mississippi Delta and the National Park Service. The MDNHA was designated by U.S. Congress in 2009 and is governed by a board of directors representing agencies and organizations defined in the Congressional legislation. More information about the MDNHA, including the complete approved management plan, is available at http://www.msdeltaheritage.com.

Spring 2020 Newsletter

Most Southern Place on Earth workshop Celebrates Ten Years

Many thanks to Obsidian Creative Studios for documenting our 10th anniversary workshops. We also appreciate the funding providing by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the nearly 1000 workshop alumni from across the country that have participated in this experiential educational program about the Mississippi Delta.

A SPECIAL VISIT TO THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE “AND, I CRIED . . .”

Dr. Emily Moore stands in awe of the Smithsonian NMAAHC’s South Carolina Rice Fields exhibit with her husband, Dr. Herman Blake, before visiting the Emmett Till Memorial exhibit. The two are framed by two iconic South Carolina Lowcountry landmarks: historic Angel Oak on John’s Island and a salt marsh at Mosquito Beach, a popular social destination for African Americans during the Jim Crow Era. Photo credit: Dr. Rolando Herts, Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

Editor’s Note: How the Smithsonian, National Park Service, and National Heritage Areas tell stories together

During the Alliance of National Heritage Areas (ANHA) Annual Meeting in February 2017, I had the honor of working with Brandi Roberts, Executive Director of Great Basin National Heritage Area (Nevada) Sara Capen, Executive Director of Niagara Falls National Heritage Area (New York) to organize a special ANHA tour of the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. The tour was arranged in collaboration with Smithsonian Ambassador Mossi Tull and the museum's education division. 

National Heritage Areas are cultural heritage partnerships with the National Park Service. The Smithsonian NMAAHC features exhibits that relate to many National Heritage Area stories, including the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, which spans Lowcountry coastal communities shared by four states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

The following is a powerful reflective essay written by Dr. Emily Moore who experienced the tour with her husband, Dr. Herman Blake, Executive Director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Dr. Moore’s personal account poignantly illustrates the enduring historical and cultural significance of a 1955 Mississippi Delta story that still resonates with 21st century America: the lynching of African American teenager Emmett Till, an international tragedy widely cited as the “spark that lit the fuse” of the modern Civil Rights Movement.  

- Rolando Herts, Ph.D., The Delta Center for Culture and Learning and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area

To read the full article and see more photos, please visit the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area blog.

International Blues Scholars Registration Opens

Delta State University is proud to announce the creation of the International Blues Scholars Program, a global online certificate program that is part of the International Delta Blues Project housed in the Delta Center for Culture and Learning. This multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the Blues includes not only in-depth examination of the musical form, but also a scholarly lens on its influence in art, literature, history, and economic development.

Registration for the program is currently open and will last until April 15. Tuition assistance is available for qualifying students.

The International Blues Scholars Program is an online academic certificate program available to students all over the world. Students may register for up to 12 hours of graduate or undergraduate level courses. Those completing all 12 hours will receive a Certificate of Completion from Delta State University.

Courses offered this summer include Sociology of the Blues, taught by acclaimed Blues scholar Scott Barretta who was recently awarded the Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts for Mississippi Heritage, and Psychology of Hip Hop and the Blues, lead by Delta State professor Temika Simmons, a recent recipient of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning's Award for Excellence in Diversity. Additional courses are History of Rock n Roll, Blues Literature, and Modern American History: History of the 20th Century South.

The Delta Center represents Delta State at National Endowment for the Arts convening

Dr. Rolando Herts with Susie Surkamer, Executive Director of South Arts, and Malcolm White, Executive Director of the Mississippi Arts Commission, at "The Future of Arts and Creativity" convening in Washington, DC.

By special invitation, Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State, recently attended “In Pursuit of the Creative Life: The Future of Arts and Creativity in America.” The event was hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts and The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Over 200 artists, industry leaders, educators, scientists, and civic leaders from across the country attended the day-long convening at The Kennedy Center. Participants developed ideas and strategies to enhance America’s creative infrastructure for the future toward making the arts and creative opportunities more accessible to all Americans.

“This event provided opportunities for interdisciplinary idea exchanges in strategic issue areas like economics, technology, and cultivating creative talent,” said Herts. “Our discussions will enhance The Delta Center’s community-engaged programs like the International Delta Blues Project and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area that connect arts, culture, the creative economy, and people in our region.”

The convening featured keynote speaker Questlove, GRAMMY Award-winning founding member of The Roots and musical director for “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” in a moderated discussion with National Public Radio media critic, Eric Deggans. Facilitated working group discussions were framed by expert panel sessions on how to help creative people and communities thrive now and in the future.

Support for the event was provided by the Ford Foundation, Heinz Endowments, The Henry Luce Foundation, McKnight Foundation, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and Walton Family Foundation.

Travel supplements for invited entities like The Delta Center were provided by South Arts. South Arts is a nine-state regional arts organization based in Atlanta that provides grants, programs and services to artists and arts organizations in the southern United States.

NEH Chairman visits The Delta Center to experience “The Most Southern Place on Earth”

At the invitation of the Mississippi Humanities Council, The Delta Center at Delta State University hosted National Endowment for the Humanities Chairman William “Bro” Adams during his recent visit to the Mississippi Delta region. The Delta Center is the home of “The Most Southern Place on Earth” workshops for K-12 educators from throughout the U.S. The “Most Southern” workshops are funded by the NEH.

This was Chairman Adams’ first time ever visiting the Mississippi Delta and the state of Mississippi.

"It's really very powerful being here," said Chairman Adams. "Seeing all of the young people in Ruleville celebrating the birthday of Fannie Lou Hamer, that was extremely impactful and shows how much this kind of work matters."

“We are honored that the Mississippi Humanities Council brought Chairman Adams to The Delta Center so that he could learn more about our ‘Most Southern’ workshops and our region,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center. “This was an excellent opportunity for him, us, and our community stakeholders to participate in an educational exchange about the historical and cultural significance of the Mississippi Delta.”

View fullsize

Chairman Adams started his morning at The Delta Center speaking with Dr. Herts and Lee Aylward about the “Most Southern” workshops of The Delta Center and how they have created an alumni network of over 500 K-12 educators across the country. These Mississippi Delta ambassadors educate their students, colleagues, family members, and friends about the culture and history of the Mississippi Delta. They also have returned to the region as education and cultural heritage tourists.

Chairman Adams also learned about The Delta Center’s other partnership programs, including the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area and the International Delta Blues Project.

After visiting The Delta Center, Chairman Adams was taken to various educational landmarks and cultural attractions that are featured in the NEH workshops. Stops included Dockery Farms, widely considered to be the birthplace of the Blues; the Taborian Hospital and IT Montgomery Home in the historic black town of Mound Bayou; and Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Park in Ruleville, where community members celebrated the 99th birthday of the legendary voting rights activist.  

“We thank The Delta Center for taking the Chairman around the Delta on a Saturday morning,” said Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director of the Mississippi Humanities Council. “Bro had an incredible day and was very inspired by what he experienced. The Delta Center provided a perfect start to a memorable day in the Delta.  We are lucky to have such wonderful guides to the ‘Most Southern Place on Earth!’”

View fullsize

The morning wrapped up with an authentic Delta soul food experience at The Senator’s Place in Cleveland. The traveling group was joined by President Bill LaForge and Provost Charles McAdams of Delta State, as well as Mayor Darryl Johnson of Mound Bayou and Senator Willie Simmons, owner of The Senator’s Place.

"Having the Chairman for the National Endowment for the Humanities visit this morning is a wonderful experience for the Delta and for Delta State, particularly considering all of the wonderful cultural activities that are occurring in the region, " said Delta State President Bill LaForge. "We appreciate his coming to take a first hand look at all the work taking place in the Mississippi Delta."

The Chairman spent the afternoon and evening visiting other nationally significant Mississippi Delta landmarks, including Emmitt Till civil rights sites in Tallahatchie County and Blues establishments in Clarksdale.

Delta Center, CCED Participate in Rural Community Development Research Panel Discussion

A group of applied population researchers recently held their annual workshop and mini-conference in the Mississippi Delta. The meeting was part of a multi-state research project entitled, “The Great Recession, Its Aftermath, and Patterns of Rural and Small Town Demographic Change.”

   Sixteen scholars from research institutions from across the nation – including Cornell University, Penn State University, Auburn University, University of Missouri, University of Wisconsin, and the USDA Economic Research Service - joined seven of their Mississippi colleagues to present research on demographic and socioeconomic issues of concern following the Great Recession, and they discussed strategies for better disseminating their work to the public. Additionally, they developed plans for the next five years of their work together, including their recently launched research brief series that is available online entitled, Population Trends in Post-Recession Rural America. Interested readers should check the website periodically as new publications are released (http://w3001.apl.wisc.edu/). 

To better understand issues of concern to rural community and health development professionals, participants engaged in an interactive panel discussion held at the Coahoma County Higher Education Center in Clarksdale. The panel discussion was moderated and organized by Dr. John J. Green, Director of the Center for Population Studies at University of Mississippi. Panelists included Dr. Rolando Herts, Director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State; Linda Stringfellow, Director of the AmeriCorps VISTA Program in the Center for Community and Economic Development at Delta State; Aurelia Jones-Taylor, CEO of the Aaron E. Henry Community Health Center; and Desta Reff, Delta Clinical Fellow, a partnership between Mississippi State University and Harvard Law School. 

The group of applied population researchers is associated with the Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Directors (WAAESD). The 2016 meeting was co-hosted and co-sponsored by the University of Mississippi's Center for Population Studies, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and McLean Institute. 

Linda Stringfellow

Aurelia Jones-Taylor

Desta Reff

Delta Center presents at Jus’ Blues conference for second year

Dr. Rolando Herts (right) presented at the Jus' Blues Music Foundation's conference with CEO and founder Charles Mitchell (center) and GRAMMY-nominated blues legend Bobby Rush.

Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State, recently presented at the “Blues Got A Soul” Technology Conference sponsored by the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation.

This is the tenth year the conference has been held, and this is the second year that Herts has represented The Delta Center at the conference.

The event brought industry professionals and aficionados together to discuss cultural heritage preservation and legal issues pertaining to blues music. The conference was held at Horseshoe Casino’s Bluesville event venue in Tunica, Mississippi.

Herts’ presentation focused on blues heritage partnerships in the Mississippi Delta led by The Delta Center. He spoke about the International Delta Blues Project, including the upcoming International Conference on the Blues, a public screening of the film “Take Me To The River” at GRAMMY Museum® Mississippi, and Delta State’s new International Blues Scholars Program, an online blues studies certificate.

The conference also featured GRAMMY-nominated blues legend Bobby Rush and Atlanta based entertainment attorney Jonathan Mason. The event was moderated by Charles Mitchell, CEO and founder of the Jus’ Blues Music Foundation.

Bobby Rush speaks to conference attendees before performing.

“For a second year, I invited Dr. Herts to present at the conference,” said Mitchell. “The Delta Center and Delta State University are continuing to provide great leadership in blues education and awareness of the importance of blues culture. We were excited to learn more about the good work that these organizations are doing here in the Mississippi Delta to preserve blues traditions.”

The conference was held in conjunction with the 16th annual Jus’ Blues Music Awards. The awards honored various music professionals who have contributed much of their lives to advancing and promoting blues music and culture.

This year’s honorees included Sly Johnson, Ruby Andrews, Zac Harmon, Queen Ann Hines, King Edward, Chick Rodgers, Billy Branch, Big Bill Morganfield, Mud Morganfield, Eddie Cotton, Jr., and Clarksdale native L.C. Cooke, brother of soul legend, Sam Cooke. In addition, a special presentation was made to R&B legend Millie Jackson, the inaugural Millie Jackson Award.

The Delta Center’s NEH “Most Southern” workshop funded for eighth year

The Delta Center's "Most Southern" workshop participants at the Fannie Lou Hamer memorial garden in Ruleville. The workshop will be presented again in June and July 2017. through generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities."

In its 50th anniversary year, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) recently announced $79 million in grants for 290 humanities projects and programs across the United States. The grants will be awarded in 14 humanities fields or areas, and also include $42.8 million in annual operating support for the national network of state and local humanities councils.

The grants will support a wide range of efforts in the humanities, with institutions, scholars and humanities organizations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories receiving NEH support. Complete state-by-state listings of grants are available through the NEH website.

“NEH grants help bring humanities experiences to Americans across the country,” said chairman William D. Adams. “Our funding supports museums, libraries and cultural institutions, and the local state councils that create and sustain humanities programs in their communities. Through films, original research and new intellectual insights, our grants strengthen the nation’s cultural fabric and identity.”

NEH workshop participants experiencing the Delta’s rich fertile soil.

For the eighth year, The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University has been awarded a NEH grant for “The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta” workshop. The workshop is one of several Landmarks of American History and Culture: Workshops for School Teachers that NEH funds across the country. The purpose of this grant category is to support a series of one-week workshops for K-12 educators that address central themes and topics in American history, government, literature, art history and other humanities fields related to historic landmarks.

“We are pleased that the National Endowment for the Humanities once again is funding the ‘Most Southern Place on Earth’ workshops,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center and co-director of the workshop. “This is one of the longest running NEH Landmarks workshops. We are excited to have the opportunity to offer it once again to K-12 educators who have a passion for learning and teaching about the rich culture and history of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, identified by the National Park Service as ‘the cradle of American culture.'”

Over the years, the NEH “Most Southern” workshops have built a dedicated network of over 500 alumni scholars who serve as educational and cultural ambassadors for the MDNHA and for Delta State University. The workshops use an experiential learning approach, engaging participants directly with historically and culturally significant people and places in the MDNHA.

Workshop participants take what they have learned back to their schools and communities, sharing stories and lessons from the MDNHA with students, colleagues, family and friends, nationally and globally. Many past participants have made return visits to the region, bringing students, colleagues, family and friends with them, which has broadened the “Most Southern” workshops’ educational and economic impact.

Mayor Darryl Johnson of Mound Bayou greeting NEH workshop participants.

“Participants from as far away as Alaska, California and New Hampshire remain connected to The Delta Center, Delta State and the Delta region because of this workshop,” said Lee Alyward, program associate for education and community outreach at The Delta Center and workshop co-director. “In fact, several of them completed the International Blues Scholars Program this summer, our online Blues Studies certificate. We look forward to working with another group of educators in summer 2017 who are passionate about the Delta.”

The MDNHA is a partnership between the people of the Mississippi Delta and the National Park Service. The MDNHA was designated by U.S. Congress in 2009 and is governed by a board of directors representing agencies and organizations defined in the congressional legislation. More information about the MDNHA, including the complete approved management plan, is available at http://www.msdeltaheritage.com.