Delta Center expands learning outreach

The Delta Center donates harmonicas to the Delta Arts Alliance to support musical classes.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently donated over 40 “Learn to Play Harmonicas” to the Delta Arts Alliance (DAA) for music classes.

As music and art are cut from school curricula, the DAA seeks to find ways to bring the arts to schools around the Delta, and with the donation of these musical instruments, the Delta Center is helping them reach that goal.

The donation continues the working relationship between the Delta Center and the Delta Arts Alliance. In the past, the Delta Center has provided interns from the Robertson Scholars program at Duke University and the University of North Carolina to help with summer programs at the DAA.

Both entities hope that this donation will enable students from across the Delta to experience our musical heritage. Lee Aylward and Heather Miller of the Delta Center presented the packets to Rori Herbison, executive director of the DAA.

The Delta Center is the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a partnership with the National Park Service.

Delta Center hosts Sam Houston State

Sam Houston State University students recently visited the Delta Center for Culture and Learning to learn about the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The Delta State University Delta Center for Culture and Learning recently introduced a geography class from Sam Houston State University to the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area.

The class, led by Dr. John Strait, spent a week in the Delta exploring the blues, civil rights issues and the Great Migration. Lee Aylward of the Delta Center gave the class an overview of the Delta’s cultural heritage.

Strait has been coming to the Delta several times each year for over a decade. He is a regular lecturer in the Delta Center’s annual National Endowment for the Humanities workshops. Additionally, he brings his own classes once or twice each year.

The Delta Center is the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a partnership with the National Park Service. Learn more about the Delta Center’s rich history at http://www.blueshighway.org. Visit http://www.neh.gov/ to read about the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Delta Center donates bedding

Heather Miller (left) and Lee Aylward of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, visit Sister Donald Mary Lynch of St. Gabriel's Mercy Center in Mound Bayou with a donation of bedding.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning invites participants from its residential workshops to donate the bedding they used in dorm rooms to the St. Gabriel Mercy Center in Mound Bayou.

Over the years, participants in the National Endowment for the Humanities workshops have donated many sets of sheets, pillows and blankets. Another delivery to St. Gabriel’s was made following the end of the July workshop.

“When introducing the Delta to participants in our National Endowment for the Humanities workshops, we always introduce them to the unique history of Mound Bayou, and in so doing, to the Saint Gabriel Mercy Center,” said Alyward. “At the end of the workshop participants want to give back to the Delta, and this is a way for them to not only help others, but to leave a little of themselves here.”

The Delta Center, housed at Delta State, welcomed 40 K-12 teachers in July to its week-long workshop “The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History and Culture of the Mississippi Delta.”

The teachers came from 25 states and explored the blues, civil rights heritage, religious and culinary heritage, the flood of 1927 and the Great Migration. Participants made stops in Ruleville, Cleveland, Greenville, Clarksdale and Memphis — visiting museums, churches, historic sites, and listened to presentations.

Learn more about the Delta Center’s rich history at http://www.blueshighway.org. Visit http://www.neh.gov/ to read about the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Delta Center welcomes Robertson Scholars

From left to right, the scholars (with their University and home Country or State) are: Tierney Maray (Duke, Australia), Andrew Tan-Delli Cicchi (Duke, New Zealand), Oluwasanmi (Sanmi) Oyenuga (Duke, Nigeria), Sebastian Baquerizo (Duke, Ecuador), Jacob Oliffe (UNC, Australia), Griffin Unger (UNC, US - Pennsylvania), Virginia Hamilton (UNC, US - Georgia), Jaclyn Lee (UNC, US - California), Charlotte McKay (UNC, New Zealand)

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning has welcomed another set of interns from Duke and the University of North Carolina.

These Robertson Scholars all receive full tuition for all four years of their education and are required to enroll in classes at both universities. During the summer between their freshman and sophomore years, they participate in service projects in Atlanta, New Orleans, New York City or the Mississippi Delta.

Subsequent summers are spent anywhere in the world. Scholars typically stay in the Delta for about two months. The Delta Center acts as the home base for those scholars serving in the Delta and presents weekend trips to heritage sites in and around the Delta.

The first trip of the summer was to Memphis, where the scholars were introduced to Graceland, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, the National Civil  Rights Museum and Beale Street.  The Delta Center’s Lee Aylward led the tour.

For more information on the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, please call 662-846-4311.

Summer workshops spark Ruleville leader

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State is once again offering its  summer program “The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History and Culture of the Mississippi Delta.”

The program is part of the annual Landmarks in American History and Culture series that is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Pending funding from the NEH, the center is hoping to offer the program again in 2015.

This highly competitive workshop draws participants from all 50 states. Diana Brown, a special education teacher at Ruleville Middle School, recently reflected on her participation in 2012.

“One learning experience which I am really grateful for having the opportunity to participate in was ‘The Most Southern Place on Earth,’ under the direction of Dr. Luther Brown and Lee Alyward,” said Diana. “The opportunity changed my life in more ways than one. I am from the Delta, but the experience was far beyond what I ever imagined.

“The institute gave me an overload of rich knowledge about the Delta I had no idea even existed. It not only gave me a dream, but provided knowledge on how to make these dreams become a reality.”

Dr. Brown has fond memories of Diana as a workshop participant.

“She was a wonderfully engaged scholar throughout the entire week, and surprised everyone the last day by bringing in delicious home made sweet potato pies for everyone to enjoy,” said Brown. “She really welcomed everyone to the Delta.”

Diana has always loved learning but had to put her career on hold early in life when she started her family. Today she has two grown daughters and five grandchildren. She credits Delta State with helping her succeed.

“I returned to Delta State University in 2002, and in 2005 received my bachelor’s in child development,” said Diana. “I returned to Delta State in 2005, and in 2007 received my master’s in special education. I returned to Delta State again in 2009, and in 2012 received my specialists in educational leadership.

“I guess you are wondering why Delta State University, and the answer is because it’s a small university with a big heart. You are not just a number — the staff and personnel at Delta State genuinely care about the whole person.”

Her workshop experience in 2012 stimulated her interest in subsequent seminar opportunities. In 2013 she had the opportunity to participate in a learning experience in Lawrence, Kans. working on the pilot program for the alternate assessment for special needs children.

“I love to learn and I am going to learn until I am not in existence,” added Diana. “This year I applied for another teacher institute which is titled ‘The Rochester Reform Trial’ located in Rochester, New York.”

The workshop, from July 20-26, will examine the reform as expressed in landmarks such as Broad Street Aqueduct, Ernie Canal, Mount Hope Cemetery and several other landmarks.

Another participant from the same workshop that started Diana on her path, Markette Pierce, lives in Rochester and is organizing their summer experience together. She wrote about Diana on Facebook.

“She aced it as a local participant. She’s my role model as I prep for this workshop,” said Pierce. “I’m already thinking, where can I take her to get a taste of Rochester’s music and foodie culture? The closest thing we’ve got to Po’ Monkey’s is Lux Bar, which is certainly a juke joint in the ‘wicked, disorderly, unsavory’ etymological sense — though more filled with tatted up hipsters than sharecroppers.”

Brown continues her passion for learning as she becomes an ambassador for the Mississippi Delta.

For more information on The Most Southern Place workshop, contact the Delta Center For Culture and Learning at 662-846-4311.

Harvard Law School learns Delta heritage

Harvard University School of Law recently visited the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently provided an introduction of the Delta’s cultural heritage to a group of law students from Harvard University School of Law.

For the past five years, the Delta Center has worked with the program to make sure the participants have an understanding of the Delta’s history and culture. Lee Aylward from the Delta Center led the tour.

The students were in the Clarksdale area as part of a long-term internship program shared by Harvard and Mississippi State University.

University of Maryland explores the Delta’s Jewish Heritage

Students from the University of Maryland listened to Charles McLaurin discuss his experiences during Freedom Summer in 1964.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently provided an introduction of the Delta’s cultural heritage to a group of students from the University of Maryland.

The group was particularly interested in the Delta’s Jewish heritage and contacted the Delta Center through the Institute for Southern Jewish Life in Jackson. Following the introduction to the Delta, the group listened to Charles McLaurin about his experiences during Freedom Summer. McLaurin worked to register African American voters throughout the Delta in the summer of 1964.

The group will spend a week in the Delta, conducting service projects at Mississippians Engaged in Greener Agriculture.

For more information on the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, call 662-846-4311.

Delta Center welcomes Mississippi State and Ole Miss students

The Delta Center recently provided Mississippi State University and University of Mississippi students an introduction of the Delta's cultural heritage.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University recently provided an introduction of the Delta’s cultural heritage to a combined class from Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi.

This is the second year a combined service-learning class has visited the Delta.

The class was designed by Dr. Cade Smith from Mississippi State and accompanied by Dr. Albert Nylander, former dean of Graduate and Continuing Studies at Delta State and now director of the McLean Institute for Partnerships and Community Engagement at University of Mississippi.

Brie Bajus, AmeriCorps VISTA worker at Mississippi State University, provided logistic support for the class, and the Delta Center’s Lee Aylward led the tour.

For information about the National Heritage Area, contact the center at 662-846-4311.

Reading program presented with history and culture

Dr. Henry Outlaw presenting at the Como library.

Former Chair of the Department of Biological and Physical Sciences Dr. Henry Outlaw recently presented a lecture on the murder of Emmett Till as part of the Como Reads program at the Emily J. Pointer Public Library in Como, Miss. Outlaw has also been involved with the Delta Center for Culture and Learning.

The book selection for the discussion was Glory Be by Cleveland native Augusta Scattergood. The main theme of the book is “civil rights in smalltown Mississippi, circa 1964.”  Emmett Till’s murder in Sunflower County in late August of 1955 is often described as one of the events that stimulated the modern Civil Rights Movement.

For more information on the reading program or the Delta Center, please call 662-846-4311.

Delta Center offers summer workshops for teachers in American History and culture

Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, with Dr. Julia Nguyen, a program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington D.C. Nguyen is originally from Natchez.

For the fifth year, Delta State University has received major funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks in American History and Culture program. Funding will allow the Delta Center for Culture and Learning to offer two week-long workshops focusing on the Delta’s rich cultural heritage in June and July of 2014. Each workshop will serve 40 K-12 teachers who will come from Mississippi and all over the U.S.

Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning said, “The last time we did this we had over 400 applications, with participants coming from 47 states. This is a very exciting workshop and we hope to draw applicants from all of Mississippi and the rest of the country.”

Classroom teachers and librarians in public, private, parochial and charter schools, as well as home-schooling parents are eligible to participate. They will receive a stipend to assist with expenses and gather with leading humanities scholars and Delta State staff to develop powerful lesson plans relating to the Delta’s heritage and the heritage of their own home regions.

The workshops are titled “The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History and Culture in the Mississippi Delta.” Participants will travel throughout the Delta as they visit sites where significant events occurred. They will discuss and learn about issues involving civil rights and political leadership, immigrants’ experiences in the Delta, the Blues, the great migration, agriculture, and the Mississippi River, among other things. They will sample Delta foods, visit local museums and listen to the Blues. Field trips will roam as far as Greenville, Greenwood, Clarksdale and Memphis, with stops in between.

Participants can earn five graduate semester hours upon completion of the workshop.

Workshops will be held the week of June 22 and the week of July 13. Each begins on Sunday evening and runs through the following Saturday afternoon.

The Delta Center for Culture and Learning promotes the understanding of the heritage of the Mississippi Delta. It is the manager of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, a partnership between the people of the Delta and the National Park Service. The Center will be assisted during the workshops by faculty from the University of Mississippi, Sam Houston State University, the University of Memphis and other institutions of higher learning. Local Delta citizens will also tell their own stories and experiences.

There are only 17 Landmarks in American History and Culture topics offered during 2014. Their topics range from The American Skyscraper, to The Cold War Home Front in Southern California, to Crossroads of Conflict: Contested Visions of Freedom and the Missouri-Kansas Border Wars, with several workshops focusing on the Civil Rights Movement. A complete list can be found at http://www.neh.gov/projects/landmarks-school.html.

For more information about the Landmarks in American History and Culture workshops, visit the center’s website at http://deltacenterforcultureandlearning.com/neh-workshop/ or contact the DSU Delta Center for Culture and Learning at 662-846-4311.

Caption:  Dr. Luther Brown, director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning, with Dr. Julia Nguyen, a program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington D.C. Nguyen is originally from Natchez.