Southern Studies Alumni News

Shelley Ritter, a Memphis native who was raised in Kosciusko, Mississippi, earned her undergraduate degree at Millsaps College, majoring in English. In 1990 she completed the Southern Studies master's program with a focus on folk architecture. For the next five years she worked as the archives manager at Graceland, where she completed a photographic inventory and established the archive. In March, Shelley began working at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History as the curator for historic preservation in Mississippi. In her position, she advises local museums and historical societies around the state on how to preserve and catalog historical sites and artifacts.

Originally from Sebastopol, Mississippi, Michelle Weaver joined the staff of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in January. During her studies at the University of Mississippi, where she earned both her B.A. and M.A. in Southern Studies, Michelle pursued a lifelong interest in the material culture of the South in general and of Mississippi in particular. As an architectural historian with the Historic Preservation Division of the Department, she is involved in the documentation and preservation of historical structures throughout the state. Working primarily as Local Government Assistance Coordinator, Michelle provides guidance to 14 Certified Local Governments and other communities throughout Mississippi, assisting them with the adoption and implementation of historic preservation ordinances, training of preservation commissions, and administration of historical preservation grant projects.

Genie Bryan received her M.A. in Southern Studies in 1994 and is currently a student in the doctorate program in English at the University of Southwestern Louisiana. Genie teaches courses in freshman composition and literature and recently delivered a chapter of her Southern Studies master's thesis, "Tennessee Williams: The Search for God and Absolution," at a conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

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