Published February 3, 2023, 2:01 PM
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History received $500,000 in federal funding from the National Park Service as a result of spending directed by Congress through the recent federal appropriations process.
With these funds from the Save America's Treasures Grants program, MDAH will be able to establish a field school for historic preservation at Jefferson Historic College in Natchez, Washington DC.
The Field School is part of a broader MDAH initiative to establish the Natchez Center for American History at Jefferson College.
In addition to a field school, it will feature common rooms, a visitor center and an interpretive center that will tell the region's important stories, focusing on the rise and fall of a slave-based cotton kingdom.
"The Save America Treasure Scholarship will help restore historic Raymond Hall to accommodate students aspiring to earn a degree while pursuing conservation professions that are in high demand in the market, especially in this region," said Kathy Blount , director of the Diamond Foundation. We thank the Mississippi congressional delegation for supporting this initiative.
MDAH is working with the National Park Service, the Natchez Historical Foundation, Mississippi State University, Tulane University, and other local universities to create a field school.
This consortium is developing training that complements traditional classroom instruction through week-long seminars to meet the university's requirement for three credit hours. The field lab includes classes in carpentry, masonry, historical decor and more.
“This collaboration is important to the many students and professionals in contemporary historic building, conservation and construction who lack knowledge and hands-on experience in the field of historic buildings,” said Barry White, director of MDAH's Historic Preservation Division.
Jefferson College, founded in 1802, was the first institution of higher education in Mississippi and the home of the state, where delegates met in 1817 to draft the state's first constitution. Jefferson College operated for many years as a training school and later as Jefferson Military College. After the Civil War, the office of the freedom fighters was located here for some time. The campus covers 80 hectares with eight buildings built between 1818 and 1937.
The Save America's Treasures Scholarship Program was established in 1998 to celebrate America's most important cultural resources in the new millennium.
More than 20 years later, this grant program has awarded more than 1,300 grants totaling more than $300 million to programs in the United States.
This program is administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
By preserving Mississippi's diverse historical resources and sharing them with people around the world, MDAH encourages discovery of the stories that connect our lives and shape our future. For more information, send an email to info@mdah.ms.gov. For more information, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.
