Delta Center provides heritage tour for Mississippi State and Ole Miss students

PHOTO: The combined classes from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi at Dockery Farms. Photo by Cade Smith, Student Leadership and Community Engagement Director at Mississippi State University.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University provided an introduction to the Delta’s cultural heritage for a combined group of students from Mississippi State and the University of Mississippi during their Alternative Spring Break.  The students spend a week in the Delta, combining service projects with visits to attractions like Delta State University, the Quapaw Canoe Company, the Delta Blues Museum, McCarty’s Pottery, the Levee Run Farm, Dulaney Seed Company, and Po’ Monkey’s Lounge.  The students stay at the North Greenwood Baptist Church and dine in restaurants throughout the Delta.  The academic aspect of the course focuses on the Blues and Civil Rights heritage of the Delta.  The Mississippi State group was organized by Alternative Spring Break Co-Directors Courtney Allen and Chris Turner.  The University of Mississippi class was organized by AmeriCorps VISTA workers Ryan Parsons and Erin Mauffrey, and accompanied by Dr. Albert Nylander, formerly Dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Delta State and now Director of the McLean Institute for Partnerships and Community Engagement at Ole Miss.

Delta Center for Culture and Learning assists film crew from South Africa

Dr. Luther Brown, Director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University, recently worked with a film crew from South Africa on a television documentary featuring South African music star Juanita duPlessis, “the darling of Afrikaans Pop.”  The documentary will include stops throughout the southeastern United States.  In the Delta, the program focused on the Blues, with stops at Dockery Farms, Po’ Monkey’s Lounge, and the Delta Blues Museum, among others.  The show features Brown describing the Delta’s heritage to duPlessis, and includes live performances by the All Night Long Blues Band (Sean “Bad” Apple, Martin “Big Boy” Grant, and Dixie Street), and Terry “Harmonica” Bean.  Roger Stolle, of Clarksdale’s Cat Head Delta Blues and Folk Art, also appears.  The documentary will eventually be broadcast in Afrikaans, with English subtitles.  Its Afrikaans title is “Country Hart met Juanita.”  

Juanita duPlessis’s official biography includes this information about the star:  “Juanita du Plessis is a South African singer, born in Windhoek, Namibia. She became known for her big hit“Ska-Rumba” and since then has followed it with constant hits.  Her singing career began in 1998 with her debut album "Juanita". That year she won numerous CMA (Country Music Association in Namibia) awards, including as best singer, best songwriter and the Association’s Award for outstanding achievement. Juanita writes all of her own material, if not covering existing songs. In 2010, she received the award for most popular South African artist. Out of the eleven CD’s and 5 DVD’s she has released, she received two platinum, 6 double platinum, five triple platinum, two 4x platinum and one 5x platinum awards, a total of 44 platinum awards. Due to her achievement she is known affectionately as ‘Die Platinum Princess.’”

Delta Center Assists in Planning Mississippi Freedom Trail Tour

PHOTO: The students on the Jack and Jill tour, in the chapel at Tugaloo College in Jackson. Photo by Joli Cooper.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently helped Jack and Jill of America, Inc., a nation-wide African American family organization, plan its Mississippi Freedom Trail Tour.  This was the group’s first tour in Mississippi, and their eighth annual tour of America.  Parents and children spent time in Jackson, the Delta, and Philadelphia, MS.  While in the Delta, the group learned about the murder of Emmett Till at the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center in Glendora; talked with Mr. Charles McLaurin about the life of Mrs. Fannie Lou Hamer, and learned about Amzie Moore’s life from Mrs. Margaret Block.  They also toured Mound Bayou.  

Joli Cooper, organizer with Jack and Jill said “We arrived in strong numbers and experienced an unbelievable journey through our rich and sometimes tough Civil Rights history.”  Commenting specifically about the Delta portion of the trip, she said “ Everything was fantastic.”

Delta Center assists Canadian film crew

PHOTO: (L to R) Award-winning Country musician and TV personality Jason McCoy, Terry ”Harmonica” Bean, and TV producer Joel Stewart of CMT Canada, all at Po’ Monkey’s Lounge in Merigold, Mississippi, prior to shooting part of Jason McCoy Eats America.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently helped the television company CMT Canada film part of an episode of their popular show Jason McCoy Eats America at Po’ Monkey’s Lounge in Merigold.  The cast and crew interviewed Bluesman Terry “Harmonica” Bean, and their star, Jason McCoy, later performed with Terry Bean.  Jason McCoy is a Canadian singer/songwriter who is best known for his country music. In 2001 he won Male Vocalist of the Year at the Canadian Country Music Awards, and he has also had 3 SOCAN Song of the Year awards, 19 CCMA nominations and 5 Juno nominations, all for Best Country Male Vocalist.  Other parts of this episode were filmed in Clarksdale, and other episodes of the series have been filmed throughout the Southeastern US.

Delta Center assists in music video production

Manu Lanvin in Kossman’s 1972 LeMans convertible at historic Dockery Farms, known around the world as the birthplace of the Blues.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently helped French Blues singer Manu Lanvin film a music video for his latest release "Sur la route sixty one" ( On Highway 61).  Manu (who goes by his first name) and his producer/photographer, Alexandre Villeret, spent over a week filming in the Delta.  Highlights of their visit included an evening of live Blues at historic Po’ Monkey’s Lounge, during which Manu performed with Mississippi’s own Terry “Harmonica” Bean.  Bean has recently toured in France, and also been featured in the French Blues Magazine called “Blues” as well as in Living Blues Magazine.   Kossman’s automotive, in Cleveland, provided access to their 1972 LeMans convertible, which appears in the music video.

Delta Center hosts workshop in Memphis

Participants in The Delta Center for Culture and Learning workshop gather for a photo while touring Memphis.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently took its workshop “The Most Southern Place on Earth:  History, music and culture of the Mississippi Delta” to Memphis.

The workshop is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Participants in the workshop were teachers (K-12) and librarians, and they came from 21 states.  They were in the Delta for seven days, and several stayed for an extra day or two before going home. 

While in Memphis, the workshop participants visited the Cotton Museum, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, and the National Civil Rights Museum, before going to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous ducks walk from the fountain to the elevators.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning and the Robertson Scholars tour Memphis

Robertson Scholars at the Stax Musuem of American Soul Music.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently took ten Robertson Scholars to Memphis.  While there, they visited the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Graceland, and the National Civil Rights Museum.  They also saw Beale Street and watched the ducks march in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel. 

The scholars group included six scholars who are living in Cleveland for the summer plus three who are living in New Orleans and one stationed in Atlanta.  The tour was escorted by the Delta Center’s Lee Aylward.  The Delta Center is currently the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently review plans for Blues Museum and Visitor’s Center

L to R- Willie Bearden, museum consultant, Wanda Clark and Allan Hammons of Hammons and Associates, Mississippi Blues Trail designers, Luther Brown, Delta Center and MS Delta National Heritage Area, Mary Beth Wilkerson, MDA/Mississippi Tourism, and Scott Blake, museum consultant.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning was recently invited to review plans for the new Gateway to the Blues Museum and Visitor’s Center located on Highway 61 in Tunica. The Delta Center was included because it is now the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. 

The visitor’s center is currently open, and the museum will be under construction soon, opening in 2014.  The new visitor’s center is adjacent to the previous one, but is now located in an old railroad terminal that was moved from Dundee.  The museum will house the fine collection of artifacts that was formerly on display in the Horseshoe Casino, and will direct visitors along the Mississippi Blues Trail.

Delta Center Receives Grant from Deer Creek Foundation

Lee Aylward, program associate for education and community outreach for the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, holds a check from the Deer Creek Foundation.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently received a check for $25,000 from the Deer Creek Foundation.  The funding is in support of the Center’s role as the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area during the planning phase.  The Heritage Area links the Delta to the National Park Service and will stimulate interest in the Delta’s rich heritage as it promotes tourism and economic development.  For information about how you can become a partner with the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, contact the Delta Center at 662-846-4311.

Delta Center recognized as “Best Practice Leader”

Dr. Luther Brown (fourth from left), director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, at the Best Practices panel discussion

Governor Haley Barbour recently commissioned the Mississippi Development Authority and the Mississippi Arts Commission to produce a study of the creative economy in Mississippi. The report, prepared with assistance from Regional Technologies, Inc, was released during a day-long symposium on August 10 at the Jackson Convention Center. Numerous presentations provided information on the value of the creative economy, along with examples of how the creative economy helps build communities and provide jobs. The event ended with a "Best Practices Panel" that featured the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University.  

The Delta Center is involved in the Mississippi Blues Trail, the new Mississippi Freedom Trail, and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, and other projects. The Delta Center was one of five "Best Practice Leaders" that were featured at the symposium. The others included Mississippi State University’s music program, the Fondren District renovation in Jackson, the Cities of Oxford and Bay St. Louis, and the Mississippi School of the Arts. These entities, and several others, are also featured in the published report. The complete creative economy report is published on-line at http://www.mscreativeeconomy.com.