Welcome to the Mississippi Writers Page Newsletter for March 19-25, 2004

In this issue:

• This week in Mississippi Literary History
• Author events: readings, book signings, and appearances
• On the horizon: events coming up in the weeks and months ahead

The following events all happened during this week in Mississippi history.

Year:
1736: After Bienville decided to fight the Chickasaw on two fronts, French forces from the Illinois country under Pierre d’Artaguette were defeated by the Chickasaw in the Battle of Ougoula Tchetoka. Some twenty Frenchmen, including d’Artaguette, were captured and burned to death. (March 25)

1912: Journalist Walter G. Cowan was born in Bond, Mississippi. (March 24)

1917: U.S. Air Force pilot Eddie H. Lee was born in Magee, Mississippi. (March 19)

1929: Music teacher Mary Margaret Clark was born in McComb, Mississippi. (March 24)

1930: Texas travel writer Ann Ruff was born in Aberdeen, Mississippi. (March 20)

1931: Journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells Barnett died of uremic poisoning in Chicago, Illinois. (March 25)

1931: Historian John D. W. Guice was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. (March 24)

1934: Theologian Charles H. Talbert was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (March 19)

1935: The novel Pylon, by William Faulkner, was published by Harrison Smith and Robert Haas. (March 25)

1936: Eudora Welty’s stories “Death of a Traveling Salesman” and “Magic” were accepted for publication by Manuscript 3 (May-June 1936, 21-29). (March 19)

1941: A production of Native Son, based on the book by Richard Wright, opened on Broadway at the St. James Theatre, starring Canada Lee, in a benefit performance for the NAACP. (March 24)

1944: Poet and journalist Si Dunn was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. (March 24)

1945: Food editor and writer Judith Hill was born in Gulfport, Mississippi. (March 19)

1946: Shakespeare scholar Bruce R. Smith was born in Jackson, Mississippi. (March 21)

1953: Tennessee Williams’ play Camino Real premiered at the Martin Beck Theatre, New York. (March 19)

1955: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams premiered at the Morosco Theatre in New York; it was directed by Elia Kazan and starred Burl Ives, Barbara Bel Geddes, and Ben Gazzara. (March 24)

1957: Tennessee Williams’ play Orpheus Descending opened at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York, starring Maureen Stapleton and Cliff Robertson. (March 21)

1962: The last studio portraits of William Faulkner were taken at Jack Cofield’s studio in Oxford, Mississippi. (March 20)

1972: The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty was published by Random House in New York. (March 23)

1977: Actress Dorris Johnson, who edited a collection of letters by her husband, acclaimed screenwriter and journalist Nunnally Johnson, died. (March 25)

1981: Historian Ray Mathis died of cancer in Troy, Alabama. (March 25)

1997: James Meredith, the first African American to enroll and graduate from the University of Mississippi, presented his papers to the University of Mississippi where they are maintained by the Special Collections branch of the J.D. Williams Library. (March 21)

2000: Sociologist Romeo Benjamin Garrett died in East Peoria, Illinois. (March 22)