Director's Column

The Center has enjoyed a memorable 25th anniversary, and we continue to reflect upon our work and to launch new initiatives. A highlight of last fall was our symposium in November, marking the quarter century since the Center’s work officially began with a Eudora Welty Symposium. 

Many old friends returned, such as John Shelton Reed and Richard King, who have been involved in Center conferences and research as well as being frequent lecturers at conferences. The panel on Welty was altogether charming and joyous, befitting our collective memory of her.  Distinguished poet William Jay Smith and Mississippi’s own Patti Carr Black were longtime friends of Welty’s, and they shared stories and insights about her work and their friendships. We also had a chance to reconnect with some of our Southern Studies alumni. Wesley Loy deserved the “long journey home” award, as the old song would put it, coming as he did from Alaska to be part of the symposium. Wesley was only one of many who came to an extraordinary panel during which our former graduate students shared their thoughts on the Southern Studies Program and their own work since receiving their degrees. The symposium has led to two open forums at the Center, occasions where everyone has shared their concerns about, and hopes for, the Center. Our alumni are a very special group to those of us at the Center, and we need to find ways to continue to involve them in our on-going work. The symposium ended with a Southern Studies Prom, and I brought out my rusty dancing shoes for the occasion—a fitting end to an intense and meaningful gathering.

February saw the latest Center initiative, the Living Blues Symposium. Blues music is one of the foundations of Southern culture, and the Center has long promoted its study. We established the Blues Archive, which is now well-ensconced in the University Library, with a new curator, Greg Johnson. Living Blues magazine has appeared for more than three decades, with the Center publishing it for 20 years. This symposium represents a landmark in bringing the magazine to a wider audience, drawing on academics, journalists, music critics, and others. Distinguished critic Stanley Crouch gave the keynote talk to the symposium, which was part of Black History Month activities on campus, and panels included both writers on the blues and performers themselves. A benefit performance for Living Blues included Bobby Rush, Little Milton, and Willie King, which left a soulful mark on Oxford and we hope brought new fans to the magazine.

Center faculty were central to both these symposia. They participated in a panel at the November meeting, sharing their experiences teaching Southern Studies courses and telling of their own research. Along with former Living Blues editor Scott Barretta, Adam Gussow, our newest Southern Studies joint appointment, organized the Living Blues Symposium, bringing to bear his interest in how literature has made use of the blues. Adam’s new book, Seems Like Murder Here: Southern Violence and the Blues Tradition, was published last fall and promises to be a landmark in blues scholarship.

We are highlighting the research of Southern Studies faculty in general with a Southern Studies Faculty Forum this spring. It will give a special occasion for faculty to share their current research projects, emphasizing the central role of scholarship at the Center. 

                                                               Charles Reagan Wilson