Message from the Director
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
'Tis the season of giving! Over the past few months, The Delta Center has been dedicating time, expertise, and talent toward fulfilling its mission through various projects and initiatives with the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area,
the National Endowment for the Humanities "Most Southern Place on Earth" workshop, and
the International Delta Blues Project.
The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area is engaged in two major projects related to giving. In November, the MDNHA launched a Fundraising Partnership Strategy aimed at developing a strategic plan for the organization's long-term sustainability. We invite you to participate by completing the online stakeholder survey. The MDNHA also is preparing to launch its grants program. A series of MDNHA grant information sessions will be held throughout the region in January 2016.
The Delta Center was honored to present at the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference in New Orleans with former NEH Most Southern workshop participants. Our NEH Most Southern alumni network is an engaged national network of over 500 K-12 educators whose passion for the Mississippi Delta make them strong educational and cultural ambassadors for the region. Applications for our 2016 NEH Most Southern workshop are being accepted now through March 1.
The International Delta Blues Project gave a successful Second Annual International Conference on the Blues featuring GRAMMY Award-winner Dom Flemons and internationally renowned Blues scholar Dr. Bill Ferris of UNC Chapel Hill. The Project's Blues Leadership Incubator hosted a pre-conference creative economy lecture featuring Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, at the Coahoma County Higher Education Center in Clarksdale, the Delta's crossroads of Blues tourism. During the Blues conference, a Blues Leadership Incubator Blues Brunch was held in partnership with the MDNHA featuring a panel discussion on the Mississippi Blues Trail, tourism, and the business side of the Blues (pictured below). We were honored to have Blues legends Bobby Rush and James "Super Chikan" Johnson on the panel. The Mississippi Blues Commission also gave a proclamation to the BB King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center designating BB King as "Mississippi's Secretary of the State of the Blues."
The Delta Center looks forward to extending this season of giving throughout the new year as we continue to promote the Mississippi Delta's rich culture and history through education, partnerships, and community engagement. Happy Holidays!
Rolando Herts, Ph.D.
Director
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