Vernacular architecture is the theme of the next issue of Mississippi Folklife, a journal published by the Center and supported in part by grants from the Mississippi Arts Commission. Scholars of folklife have largely been interested in two forms of Mississippi architecture: dogtrot homes and huge mansions. This issue studies forms of architecture that have been less often studied: farm houses in northeastern and central Mississippi, juke joints in the Delta and north-central parts of the state, a uniquely Mississippi form of road architecture outside Natchez, buildings that seem to come and go as they catch a photographer’s eye, and a roadside “church” in Vicksburg. Full of photographs, the special issue both documents architectural styles and analyzes their relationship to everyday life.

Uniting these pieces is their authors’ emphasis on telling the human stories of how people used the buildings. Rather than tracking house types and searching for their origins, the articles study how people use or react to buildings, often in creative ways. Susan Ditto studies how farming people changed their relationships to people around them as they shifted porches from the front of the house to the back. Jennifer Nardone analyzes the uses and decorations of juke joints. Lori Robbins interprets the meanings of Mammy's Cupboard Restaurant in relation to the Natchez Pilgrimage. Photographer and architect Nils Gore describes his relationship to buildings as part of the Mississippi landscape. A short article describes how a Vicksburg preacher uses his house and a uniquely designed bus as part of his ministry.

A review essay in the “Rereading a Classic” section revisits An American Exodus, a 1939 work by Dorothea Lange and Paul Taylor that combined photography and text to document the movement of farming people off the land and, usually, away from the South.

One can subscribe to Mississippi Folklife, a twice-yearly publication, for $10.00 by writing to 301 Hill Hall, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677 or by calling 800-390-3527.