Museum wins $20,000 grant to improve outdoor areas, additional $4,800 will go for summer programming

The Union County Historical Society and Heritage Museum have been awarded a $20,000 grant by the Mississippi Hills Heritage Area Alliance and will also take part in a $4,800 grant given to Visit New Albany.

“We’re going to use the $20,000 grant to add landscaping to Frenchman’s Bend (the restored village area behind the museum) and add more picnic and patio tables,” Museum Director Jill Smith said.

More of this type table will be added to the patio area.

The picnic tables will be in the Crossing on the Green area behind the railroad viewing stand that is the converted former railroad bridge. The patio tables will be for the patio area on the west side of the museum.

“We’re very grateful for the grant,” Smith said. “The pandemic has made us realize we need more outdoor space for activities.”

Some work also will be done around the William Faulkner birthplace site, which is the former ARP Church manse purchased by the historical society so the entire museum campus will benefit.

The $4,800 grant was actually applied for by Magnolia Civic Center Manager Emily Draffen, Smith said.

It will be used for a Summer Series, including four free public performances hosted in the William Faulkner Literary Garden adjacent to the museum. Each will be focused on local history and include dramatic readings of letters, articles, period music, poetry, dance and written living history scenes.

The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area actually got its start in New Albany in 2004 with several people interested in preserving heritage such as music and literature, Native American history, African-American Heritage and Civil War history.

Alcorn countian Kent Bain is credited with spearheading and promoting the project through to its official designation.

Congress and the president officially designated the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area in April of 2009.

The heritage area includes Marshall, Benton, Tippah, Alcorn, Tishomingo, Lafayette, Union, Pontotoc, Lee, Itawamba, Calhoun, Chickasaw and Monroe counties. It also includes parts of Desoto, Tate, Panola, Yalobusha, Grenada and Montgomery counties east of I-55 and north of Hwy. 14.

MHNHA says its represents a distinctive cultural landscape shaped largely by the dynamic intersection of Appalachian and Delta cultures, an intersection that produced a powerful concentration of nationally significant cultural icons that have made significant contributions in literature, music, civil rights, and major historic events that took place here.

Smith was a proponent of New Albany and Union County being full members for some time. Although there is an annual $5,000 fee, Smith said the museum has received at least $75,000 in grants so far, and likely will continue to win more.

New Albany was not the only grant recipient from Mississippi Hills.

The organization approved $116,615 in community matching grants during their quarterly board meeting on Tuesday, March 9. In total, 13 grants impacting 9 counties within the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area were approved as part of the FY21 Community Grant Program.

Mary Cates Williams, executive director of the Alliance, said, “We are very excited to have another successful grant round and we look forward to working with each of these organizations on their projects.”

In addition to the grants awarded, the board voted to allot $40,000 in special project funding, with $20,000 for both the restoration of the Tennessee Williams Home and Rust College’s Virtual Ida B. Wells-Barnett Social Justice Distinguished Lecture Series.

Other grant recipients:

Alcorn County

Visit Corinth has been awarded $20,000 for a community rebranding initiative designed to capitalize on the city’s unique cultural heritage.

 DeSoto County

The City of Hernando has been awarded $5,000 to support cultural and heritage components of its “Dickens of a Christmas” Victorian-Era holiday event.

Lafayette County

The Mississippi Presenters Network has been awarded $1,250 for the development of a Creative Cultural Business Toolbox, a resource created in partnership with VISTA.

The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council has been awarded $13,500 for the preservation of fragile reel-to-reel field recordings chronicling the secular and sacred music of the African American communities of Tate, Panola and Marshall Counties.

Lee County

The Dancing with the King program in Tupelo has been awarded $5,000 to provide participants with scholarships and, conditions permitting, informative tours of local Elvis-related sites.

Marshall County

The Holly Springs Community Development Corporation / Sons and Friends of Junior Kimbrough have been awarded $4,965 for the Annual Kimbrough Cotton Patch Soul Blues Festival, an event celebrating the musical legacy of David “Junior” Kimbrough.

North Mississippi Hill Country Picnic, Inc. has been awarded $5,000 to support the production of the 2021 picnic, which showcases Hill Country Blues.

Foxfire Ranch / Holly Springs Community Development Corporation has been awarded $20,000 for the Foxfire Blues Assembly, a vehicle for nurturing, connecting and supporting the next generation of Hill Country Blues musicians.

Montgomery County

Action Communication & Education Reform in Duck Hill has been awarded $5,000 to assist with the placement of a Mississippi Freedom Trail marker.

Panola County

The R.L. Boyce Picnic has been awarded $2,500 for a two-day Hill Country music workshop, “Walk Like a Big Blues Mane”.

Tippah County

The Ripley Main Street Association has been awarded $9,600 to fund Phase II of the Mississippi Hill Country Blues Alley.

Mississippi Hills FY2021 Special Project Designees

 Rust College was awarded $20,000 at a previous board meeting to help fund its FY20/21 “Ida B. Wells Social Justice Distinguished Lecture Series” and has been awarded an equal amount to assist with the FY21/22 “Virtual Ida B. Wells Social Justice Distinguished Lecture Series”.

Visit Columbus has been awarded $20,000 to aid with the restoration of the historic Tennessee Williams Home.

Since the Community Grant Program was initiated in 2016, over $1,135,000 in grants and designated special projects has been awarded in area communities.