A Look Back at the 2024 Homecoming Festival
Corey Crowder examines the impact of the 2024 MS John Hurt Homecoming Festival in light of recent efforts to silence African American history.
Mississippi John Hurt
UPDATE: Cultural Heritage Action Fund Grant
This blog post contains a bid request as well as updates on our grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to preserve a juke joint in Glen Allan, MS and the St. James MB Church in Avalon, MS.
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 Hurt Museum, which burned to the ground in February on County Road 109 in the Avalon community of Carroll County.
Saga Unfolds in Hurt Museum Fire & Historical Marker
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 Delta.
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, MS.
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.
Building Connections
Corey Crowder reveals more about the inner workings, hopes, and dreams of the MZMF in 2023.
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.