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<\/a>Hundreds gathered at Mound Bayou’s Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.<\/p><\/div>\n
The event attracted over 300 guests from throughout the Mississippi Delta region and the nation, including Illinois, Texas and California. “Gathering of the Delta Jewels” celebrated African American church mothers featured in Steele’s book \u201cDelta Jewels: In Search of My Grandmother’s Wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Additionally, the event was included in the 128th Founders Day activities for Mound Bayou. The gathering was also one in a series of events sponsored by the MDNHA commemorating the National Park Service Centennial. The centennial aims to reconnect the National Park Service with communities and people, creating the next generation of diverse national park enthusiasts.<\/p>\n
“I chose Mound Bayou specifically as the location for this gathering because the book’s title was inspired by Mound Bayou, also known as \u2018the Jewel of the Delta,\u2019\u201d said Steele. \u201cI also asked Reverend Andrew Hawkins, pastor of Mt. OIive Missionary Baptist Church, to help us celebrate the women featured in my book at his church because he was instrumental in referring me to several women in the book.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just seemed like a natural fit to celebrate during Founders’ Day weekend. I appreciate the city of Mound Bayou for including this event in the celebration. It was an uplifting experience for me, for the women and their families. I hope it was uplifting for the many community leaders who so graciously participated. I appreciate FedEx, the Delta Center for Culture and Learning and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area for helping sponsor the festivities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mound Bayou mayor Darryl Johnson hailed the gathering as a major success for the community.<\/p>\n
“Mound Bayou’s Founders’ Day celebration is and has been about African American history and stories being told,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cMound Bayou is one of the oldest African American towns in the country, so it is our duty to tell these stories for the benefit of our region and our country. \u201cThe Delta Jewels event inspires us to research and tell stories that have not really been told, stories of nationally significant figures who have connections to Mound Bayou like Isaiah T. Montgomery, Dr. T.R.M. Howard, and other unsung heroes like the Delta Jewels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thank all who worked to make this Founders’ Day celebration a great one \u2014 the Delta Jewels and their families, The Delta Center, the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, President LaForge and Delta State, and, last but not least, Alysia Burton Steele. Her work definitely is putting all of us on the right path.”<\/p>\n
In addition to Steele and nearly 30 Delta Jewels, the program featured Keith Beauchamp, creator of the Emmy Award-nominated documentary film \u201cThe Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.\u201d Beauchamp was joined by Fred Zollo, producer of the critically acclaimed films \u201cMississippi Burning\u201d and \u201cGhosts of Mississippi.”<\/p>\n
The program began with a spirited invocation from Rev Hawkins, pastor of Mount Olive, and a musical selection from the church choir.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Delta State President William N. LaForge.<\/p><\/div>\n
Delta State University’s President William N. LaForge brought remarks on behalf of the university, referencing the institution’s commitment to cultural diversity and improving race relations in the Mississippi Delta.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a pleasure to be a part of the celebration of Mound Bayou\u2019s 128th birthday and the occasion of a special tribute to the \u2018Delta Jewels,\u2019 many of whom were in attendance,\u201d said LaForge. \u201cDelta State was proud to be a sponsor of the program through our Delta Center for Culture and Learning.\u201d<\/p>\n
The event also premiered a Delta Jewels traveling photography exhibit sponsored by the MDNHA. Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, offered remarks on behalf of the board of the MDNHA.<\/p>\n
“This was an extraordinary opportunity to pay homage to these living figures of American history,” said Rockoff. “One of the reasons that the Mississippi Delta was designated a National Heritage Area by Congress is due to the fact that this is an active cultural landscape with traditions and customs that residents still practice. The Delta Jewels church mothers and their oral histories exemplify important aspects of the Delta region’s rich, living culture.”<\/p>\n
Before introducing Steele to the standing-room-only crowd, Dr. Rolando Herts, director of The Delta Center and the MDNHA, provided an overview of the cultural heritage significance of the event to the Delta.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Dr. Rolando Herts (left to right) with mayor Darryl Johnson, Herman Johnson and filmmaker Keith Beauchamp.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cThe Mississippi Delta has stories that continue to resonate with those who live here, as well as those who visit the Delta from other places from around the country and the world,\u201d said Herts. \u201cThese are nationally significant Delta stories told by Delta residents who live in Delta communities, which reflects the cultural significance of the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area. The Delta Jewels\u2019 stories also are human stories. While they are rooted in race, place, time and culture, they also transcend race, place, time and culture, because they speak to the human condition.\u201d<\/p>\n
After Steele’s powerful audio and visual presentation of several Delta Jewels stories, Pamela Junior, director of the Smith Robertson Museum in Jackson and MDNHA board member, facilitated a powerful Q&A session that allowed attendees to hear words of wisdom from many of the Delta Jewels who were present.<\/p>\n
“I felt the earth shake as the ‘Jewels’ entered Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church,” said Junior. “I knew that we were in the presence of royalty, an unshakeable greatness. I remain in awe of this great author Alysia Burton Steele and these amazing women.”<\/p>\n
Dr. Janet Morford brought a group of oral history interns from University of Illinois Laboratory High School to the event after they had participated in an educational oral history session featuring Steele at Delta State University. Morford is an alumnus of the National Endowment for the Humanities “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop facilitated by The Delta Center. NEH workshop participants are K-12 teachers from across the country who are immersed in Delta culture and history for six days. They take what they learn back to their classrooms, essentially serving as educational and cultural ambassadors for the Mississippi Delta region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter our incredible workshop with Alysia Burton Steele in Clarksdale, we were delighted to attend the community celebration of the Delta Jewels sponsored by The Delta Center and other organizations in Mound Bayou,\u201d said Morford. \u201cOur Uni High students benefitted immensely from the chance to witness responses to Alysia\u2019s work by her subjects, their families and others from across the Delta.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe left inspired not only by the powerful music and the warm welcome we received, but also by the overwhelming evidence of all that can be learned by listening to people\u2019s stories, honoring their voices and experiences, as oral historians do. We are all the more grateful to the people of the Delta, the Delta Center, the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, the NEH, and to Uni High for giving us the chance to learn about our common humanity in these uniquely powerful ways.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 National Endowment for the Humanities “Most Southern Place on Earth” workshop and the International Delta Blues Project. For more information, visit https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/academics\/delta-center-for-culture-and-learning\/.<\/a><\/p>\n The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area is a partnership between the people of the Mississippi Delta and the NPS. 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area served as sponsors of Alysia Burton Steele\u2019s \u201cGathering of the Delta Jewels\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":144,"featured_media":64140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[412],"class_list":["post-64136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-delta-center","tag-delta-center-for-culture-and-learning"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/144"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64136"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64149,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64136\/revisions\/64149"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/news-and-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}