In this article for Public History Weekly, Mt. Zion Memorial Fund Executive Director T. DeWayne Moore explains how white fragility inhibits the responsible practice of public history in Mississippi blues tourism. Once touted as a force for racial reconciliation, the Mississippi Blues Commission abandoned its original goals under Republican Governor Haley Barbour, excluded African Americans from the decision-making process, and embraced more exclusive public history practices, which promote the erasure of African American history and obscure any connection to contemporary injustice.
In this article on the Mississippi University for Women (MUW) website, Adam Minichino details the work of alumnus and Mt. Zion Memorial Fund Vice President Shannon Evans, whose latest work tells the story of white supremacist violence and turmoil that plagued the political career of Robert Gleed, an African American politician from Lowndes County who served as state senator and Columbus alderman during Reconstruction.
If you want to help save and preserve graves of Blues artists, the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund is the organization to work with. Erin Scott had the privilege of speaking with MZMF Executive Director DeWayne Moore. Take a listen to current and upcoming projects.
Prairie View A&M University is set to receive a boost that will make more historical documents available to researchers, students and the public. A team consisting of University Archivist Phyllis Earles, Special Collections Librarian Lisa Stafford and History Professor DeWayne Moore, Ph.D., has been awarded two highly competitive grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Big Road Blues Show 10/4/20
See That My Grave Is Kept Clean – Blues, Restoration & Research with T. DeWayne Moore
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Atlas Obscura – 10-29-2019
The Not-So-Mysterious Missing Grave of Blues Legend Robert Johnson
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The Association of State & Local History – 3-6-2019
Research is Respect: the Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Cemetery Preservation
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American Blues Scene – 7-24-2017
Mt. Zion Memorial Fund Preserves Delta Legacy One Project At a Time
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