|
Silver
Anniversary for the Center:
25 Years of Studying the South
|
September
27, 2002
Jackson, Mississippi |
Faculty,
students, staff, and friends enjoyed a
variety of activities celebrating the
Center’s
25th anniversary, as sample photographs
reveal.
|
 |
|
The
Old Capitol Inn, site of a celebration
dinner hosted by Center Advisory Committee
members and organized by an energetic and
creative group of volunteers, was
decorated in a festive manner evocative of
Southern culture: Elvis Presley–in the
form of Bill Dunlap’s huge Shroud of
Memphis painting–was on center
stage, with life-size cutouts of Elvis and
Faulkner standing by. Cloths in bright
colors, stripes, and polka dots covered
the dining tables, where centerpieces were
pink flamingoes standing in “a tuft of
real plastic grass” and surrounded by RC
Colas, Moon Pies, and Pork Rinds. Chef
Bruce Cane prepared a delicious Southern
dinner for nearly 200 guests who gathered
for the celebration.
|
Click
to view other pictures from Jackson
|
September
27, 2002
Yazoo City, Mississippi |
The
day began with a drive to Holly Bluff for
a tour the new Silver Creek Cotton Gin,
after which Center Advisory Committee
members Byron and Cameron Seward hosted a
lunch at their home. Afterwards, Sam Olden
conducted a tour of Yazoo City. |
 |
|
Byron Seward (center, with back to camera)
tells group about the operation of Silver Creek Cotton Gin, the largest east of the
Mississippi River.
|
Click
to view other pictures from Yazoo City
|
November 8-9,
2002
Oxford, Mississippi |
The
Center hosted “The State of the South and
Southern Studies,” a symposium that opened with
an address by former Center Director William Ferris and a panel
discussion by Southern Studies alumni. The program included a
session on the Center’s inaugural event, a 1977 symposium on Eudora Welty;
panel presentations by Center consultants and faculty; and a
closing address by Center Director Charles Reagan Wilson. The
weekend was also celebrated with a dinner at Isom Place on Friday
and a prom at Off Square Books on Saturday.
|
 |
|
Recalling
that Welty’s work was the subject of the
Center’s inaugural
event in November 1977, the author’s long-time friends Patti Carr Black (left)
and
poet William Jay Smith reflected
on that 1977 gathering and on her
life and art.
|
Click
to view other pictures from Oxford
 |
The Center and its 25th anniversary inspired the cover of the
January 2003 issue of the Ole Miss Alumni Review; inside, an
eight-page article with numerous photographs captures the range
and excitement of Center activities. If you want to see the
article, written by Deidra Jackson and Jim Urbanek, we'll be glad
to send you a copy. Look for Robert Jordan's enticing cover
photograph on a Friends of the Center mailing this spring.
|
|
Celebration Planning
Committee
Sandy Black
Katie Blount
Janet H. Clark
Carol Daily
Dot-t Dehmer
Lynn Murray Evans
Sarah Dabney Gillespie
Mary Hartwell Howorth
Elta Johnston
Shelley Ritter
Pat Ross
Cameron Seward
Ward Sumner
Carla Wall
Kathryn Wiener |
|
|
