The blog of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Blues, Music, and Justice contains updates about our research, memorialization, and historic preservation projects!
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.
A Walk Amongst the Tombstones – Part III
The exciting conclusion to Emily Hilliard's blog series about her efforts to memorialize blues artist Nathan Beauregard at Shiloh MB Church Cemetery in Ashland, MS.
Miracle in Mississippi
In 2022, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund received a grant from the MDNHA to write a National Register of Historic Places nomination for the jook joint of recording artist Alonzo Chatmon in Glen Allan, Mississippi. This blog post details the initial stage of the project.
W. I. Mitchell: Respectability and Resource Hoarding in Jim Crow Columbus
Shannon Evans examines the struggle for education for African Americans after the Civil War in Lowndes County, and she highlights the politics of respectability embraced by William Isaac Mitchell, an African American educator and community leader who served as principal of Union Academy from 1878 until his death in 1916.
Robert Gleed: Black Power & White Violence in Lowndes County
Shannon Evans examines the white supremacist violence and turmoil that plagued the political career of Robert Gleed, an African American politician from Lowndes County who served as Senator and Columbus Alderman during Reconstruction.
A Walk Amongst the Tombstones – Part II
In the second installment of Emily Hilliard's blog post, she details her efforts to mark the grave of Nathan Beauregard at Shiloh MB Church in Ashland, MS.
One Week at Mississippi Department of Archives & History
In this blog post, archival research specialist Dr. Abdul Ajibola takes a trip to the Mississippi Department of Archives & History in Jackson and makes some amazing discoveries in death certificates from 1912-1926.
Three Days in Mississippi Delta
In this blog post, Abdul Ajibola details the initial field research expedition of the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for the American Historical Association grant in May 2022.
Sandfield Cemetery – Abandoned in Plain Sight
In this blog post, Shannon Evans examines the interments of Sandfield Cemetery, the oldest African American cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi.
An “Indescribable” Calamity
In this blog post, Shannon Evans examines the African American histories of Sandfield Cemetery in Columbus, MS. While rounding a curve near Berry, Alabama, the engine and four cars of an excursion train on the Southern Railroad jumped off the track, rolled over and over, smashing the coaches into kindling…
A Walk Amongst the Tombstones
Emily Hilliard is spearheading the effort to mark the grave of Nathan Beauregard, and this is the first in a series of blog posts detailing her work with the congregation at Shiloh MB Church in Ashland, Mississippi.
Reconciling the Blues King
Although the Mississippi Blues Trail marker installed in 2009 to purportedly further "racial reconciliation" and rehabilitate the state's image as an intransigent racist backwater claims that he was buried in Pelahatchie, Mississippi (based on the information written on his death certificate), his remains actually never made it back to the…
Oxford and Benton County, Mississippi
Oxford, Mississippi Meeting Burns Belfry Museum A very good and productive time indeed for Team Mt. Zion on May 19 in Oxford. Burns Belfry Museum Curators Amy Wilkes and Robrecus Toles were most helpful in helping us prepare for the morning work session at the historic former Burns United Methodist […]
