The blog of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Blues, Music, and Justice contains updates about our research, memorialization, and historic preservation projects!
John Lee “Sonny Boy” Williamson
John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson was perhaps the most influential harmonica player in the 1940s. His untimely and violent death in the late 1940s cut his career short, however, and he missed out on the 1950s blues scene in Chicago. In 2012, journalist Dan Morris wrote this article about his…
2024 Homecoming Festival Feedback & Community Archive Submission Form
We need input from everyone who attended and participated in the 2024 Homecoming Festival. Please answer the next series of questions to help the MS John Hurt Foundation and Mt. Zion Memorial Fund provide the best possible experience in the future...
2024 MS John Hurt Blues Festival
The Mt Zion Memorial Fund (MZMF) is partnering with the Mississippi John Hurt Foundation (MJHF) to present a two-day celebration of the life and musical legacy of Carroll County native Mississippi John Hurt on October 5-6, 2024. The event will take place on the former site of the Mississippi John…
Juneteenth in Mississippi
In June, Corey Crowder attended a symposium on race and memorialization organized by the Lafayette County Remembrance Project (LCRP), and this blog post reflects on his experience as well as the importance of remembering Juneteenth.
The Last Picnic of RL Boyce
In October 2023, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund sponsored the last of the RL Boyce Picnics in Como, Mississippi. Even though we did not know it at the time, it proved the last time that RL Boyce would hold court over the event prior to his passing on November 9.
Roosevelt Graves Memorial Dedication
This blog post details our efforts to memorialize Blind Roosevelt Graves in Mississippi City Cemetery in Gulfport, MS. the dedication will be held on August 10, 2024.
Research is Respect: The Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, MS
In 2024, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund started to conduct historical research on perhaps the most important historic site in Clarksdale---the Riverside Hotel, and this blog post explains how you can be a part of the participatory research process!
Saga Unfolds in Hurt Museum Fire & Historical MarkerÂ
In this re-published article from the Jackson Clarion Ledger, one journalist finds the mystery surrounding the blues trail marker honoring legendary bluesman Mississippi John Hurt and the cause of the Mississippi John Hurt Museum fire as winding as the maze of narrow roads that crisscross the eastern edge of the…
Shannon Evans Wins Oakley Award!
Please give a huge congratulations to our very own vice president, Shannon Evans, for receiving the Oakley Award from the Board of Trustees of the Association for Gravestone Studies (AGS).
Hostility & Hatred
In October 2023, MZMF field agent Joe Austin attended the Mississippi John Hurt Memorial Walk to witness the dedication of the historical marker at St. James MB Church Cemetery. In this blog post, he explains how hostility and hatred have inhibited efforts to preserve African American history in Carroll County,…
The 97 Festival
The third installment of Tim Kendall's "Story from the Heart" explores the development of the 1997 Sunflower River Blues Festival. Featuring the return performance of Clarksdale native Ike Turner, who headlined the event at his own expense, the event proved a milestone in the history of blues tourism in the…
I Went Down to The Crossroads
Tim Kendall and Bill Barth bought ‘The Crossroads’ bar in Clarksdale under the impression that there was some kind of tourist industry in the Delta. In the second installment of this series, Kendall explains the nature of the Mississippi tourist industry--which did not include the entire Mississippi Delta, let alone…
Shannon Evans – Oakley Award Nomination
Shannon Evans is dedicated to preventing the silencing of African American History as the Vice President of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund, which is nominating her for the 2023 Oakley Award from the Association of Gravestone Studies.
Bringing Tourism to Clarksdale
This article is the first in a series by Tim Kendall, a blues enthusiast and photographer from the United Kingdom, who, along with musician Bill Barth in the 1990s, purchased "The Crossroads" bar in Clarksdale, Mississippi from Mt. Zion Memorial Fund founder Raymond "Skip" Henderson. Â
Memorializing Blind Roosevelt Graves
Since the pandemic derailed our original campaign, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund has renewed its campaign to mark the grave of Roosevelt Graves in Gulfport, MS
State-Sponsored Erasure of Historic Sites in Virginia
In this republished ProPublica article, Seth Freed Wessler explains that, despite layers of federal and state regulations nominally intended to protect culturally significant sites, the expansion of a Microsoft data center inspired authorities in Virginia to desecrate a historic cemetery.
White Supremacy & Historic Preservation
Shannon Evans details the similarities between plantation tourism and blues tourism, both of which employ similar mechanisms of erasure, nostalgia, and mythology. By relying on romanticized narratives that align with the expectations of white tourists, both blues and plantation tourism are detached from the historical realities of the African American…
Preserving the Legacy of John Hurt
Shannon Evans has worked closely with Mary Frances Hurt of the Mississippi John Hurt Blues Foundation to help preserve St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Teoc, Mississippi. This blog post details her work over the past year.
Just a Few Lines
Tavon worked with the MZMF to build the WebAtlas of African American Burial Grounds, and this blog post introduces our supporters to a fine young man who played an important role in the AHA grant.
Closing the AHA Grant
Corey Crowder details the work of the MZMF to close the American Historical Association grant in June 2023.
Always Loved the Blues
The Mt. Zion Memorial Fund hired public historian Milo Reed to prepare the NRHP nomination for Alonzo Chatmon's Juke Joint in Glen Allan, and this blog post reveals the reasons why he was the perfect choice for the project!
Building Connections
Corey Crowder reveals more about the inner workings, hopes, and dreams of the MZMF in 2023.
Welcome to Tutwiler, Mississippi
Shannon Evans beamishly details her return to Tutwiler, MS after many years to attend a meeting with the National Park Service (NPS) and the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA).
Fulfilling the Mission
As part of our grant from the American Historical Association, we hope to enhance the transparency of our work through regular blogging. In this post, MZMF Fiscal Agent Corey Crowder shares a detailed account of his work in 2023.
“Kansas City” Jim Jackson
This blog post not only explains the historical significance of Jim Jackson in the history of the blues, but it also introduces stakeholders to our efforts to mark his grave in the racially segregated Hernando Memorial Park Cemetery in Hernando, MS.
