The planning process for the newly created Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area advanced with recent community forums in Vicksburg, Greenville, and Clarksdale. Each meeting was presented by consultants lead by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The Vicksburg meeting, held in the auditorium of the Battlefield Park, drew 42 participants. It was preceded by a special announcement given by John Hildreth, Vice President of Eastern Field Service for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, who revealed that the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area has been declared a National Treasure, making it the only one of the 49 existing National Heritage Areas to hold this distinction. This designation will focus new interest on the Delta, and will allow the National Trust to provide assistance to the Heritage Area in ways that other Heritage Areas cannot access.
The Greenville meeting was held in the Greenville Higher Education Center and attracted 77 participants. The Clarksdale Greyhound Station was the scene of the final meeting with 42 participants. In each case, consultants reviewed what National Heritage Areas are, what they do, what the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area planning process includes, and how people can participate.
Following this review, the audience was asked to answer three critical questions: What are the places in the Delta that you like to visit or tell others to visit? What do you see as the heritage themes in the Delta? What are the Delta’s important heritage stories? Information gathered from the answers will be included in the developing management plan.
Two more sets of community forums, each set consisting of three meetings, are scheduled for the near future. Each meeting will be held in a different town within the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, which encompasses eighteen counties in Northwest Mississippi.
The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University acts as the manager of the National Heritage Area during the planning process. For more information, contact the Delta Center at 662-846-4311, lbrown@deltastate.edu.
