William R. Ferris to Discuss Mississippi Blues Roots at SCHF Monday, July 2

SCHF is pleased to welcome home Vicksburg native William R. Ferris for a lecture titled Mississippi Blues Roots in coordination with our Smithsonian New Harmonies exhibit. The lecture is free and open to the public and will be in the SCHF Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Monday, July 2.

William R. Ferris, a widely recognized leader in Southern studies, African American music and folklore, is the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Senior Associate Director of its Center for the Study of the American South. He is also an adjunct professor in the curriculum on folklore.

The former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, Ferris has conducted thousands of interviews with musicians ranging from the famous (B.B. King) to the inmates (Parchman Penitentiary inmates working in the fields).

He has written or edited 10 books and created 15 documentary films. He co-edited the massive "Encyclopedia of Southern Culture."

Bill Ferris's films include "Mississippi Blues" (1983), which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival. He has produced numerous sound recordings and hosted "Highway 61," a weekly blues program on Mississippi Public Radio for nearly a decade. He also has published his own poetry and short stories.

A native of Vicksburg, Mississippi, Ferris was the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, where he taught for 18 years. He also taught at Yale University and Jackson State University. A graduate of Davidson College, he received a Ph.D. in folklore from the University of Pennsylvania (1969).

At the University of North Carolina, Ferris has been teaching classes on the history of music in the American South and its impact on the region's history and culture. His students have explored Native American songs, Appalachian folk ballads and Afro-American hymns, spirituals and work chants, and considered a range of forms including blues, country, gospel, jazz, rock, and rap.

Please make plans to join us for this special event. The lecture will be a multimedia talk featuring information to be included in Ferris's upcoming book, Mississippi Blues: Voices and Roots.

Mississippi Roots Music: FingerPickin' Good

Tuesday, July 10 at 7 p.m., SCHF welcomes Chris Goertzen to lecture on and perform roots music. The lecture will be an episodic survey of American roots music, emphasizing Mississippi tunes, drawing on a few video examples and more tunes picked and sung by Chris Goertzen.

Chris Goertzen teaches music history and world music at the University of Southern Mississippi. He has published books and articles on fiddling, Country Music, and powwows. The talk is as much concert as lecture.

The event will be in the Academy building. Please use the courtyard entrance. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Mississippi Traditional Music Today Lecture

Tuesday, July 17 at 7 p.m., SCHF welcomes Larry Morrisey of the Mississippi Arts Commission to lecture on folk roots music.

The talk will include an overview of folk and traditional musicians who are currently living and performing in Mississippi. Information on performers from the better known genres, such as blues and country, as well as examples of music from more recent immigrant groups, including Indian and Latino performers, will also be covered.

Larry Morrisey has served as the Heritage Program Director for the Mississippi Arts Commission since 1998. Through this position he works to build the awareness of the state's traditional art forms through a wide range of special initiatives, including a traveling exhibit, radio programming, and a web-site directory of artists.

The event will be in the Academy building. Please use the courtyard entrance. The lecture is free and open to the public.