Bagels and Grits: How the Jews Found a Home in the South

This year, the SCHF humanities lecture series will focus on different cultures each month. The first lecture in the series will be Thursday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. entitled Bagels and Grits: How the Jews Found a Home in the South presented by Dr. Stuart Rockoff of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience.

Despite being a double minority in the South, most Jews feel truly at home in the region where they have become an integral part of the economic and social fabric of the area, according to Dr. Rockoff. The lecture will examine how Jews have adapted to life in the South and still maintained their distinct religious traditions.

Dr. Rockoff is the director of the history department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life and the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. The Institute is dedicated to preserving and documenting the practice, culture, and legacy of Judaism in the South. In addition, the ISJL History Department works to preserve and interpret the unique history of Jews in the South.

The lecture is free of charge and open to the public. It will be held in the Academy Building. Please use the courtyard entrance on Adams Street.

SCHF Selected as Cover for The Real Yellow Pages

The Southern Cultural Heritage Center has been selected to grace the cover of the area’s leading yellow pages directory, The Real Yellow Pages. The cover photo shows SCHF’s three historic buildings on Crawford Street: the 1886 Convent, the 1830s Cobb House, and the 1885 Auditorium. The historical photo was chosen from SCHF’s archives.

“We are proud to feature our very own Southern Cultural Heritage Center, a wonderful Vicksburg institution, on the cover of our directory," said Lori Cheramie, Area Marketing Manager for BellSouth. “We are thrilled that our local residents and the hundreds of thousands of visitors to our area will see SCHF each and every time they use The Real Yellow Pages.”

The front section of the The Real Yellow Pages includes the award-winning Community Information Pages with special sections devoted to information on schools, government offices, area museums and attractions, sporting events, weather and emergency planning, as well as other important local information.

If you have not received your new copy of the The Real Yellow Pages, stop by the SCHF office at 1302 Adams Street. SCHF will serve as a distribution center for the directory all year.

Volunteer Opportunities at SCHF

 Fall is such a busy time for the Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation and there are many volunteer opportunities. Here are a few of our current needs:

• Fall Pilgrimage - volunteers needed to welcome guests, sell tickets, and lead tours through the Cobb House (guide books available with building history, furniture descriptions, and restoration details)

• Halloween Ball - volunteers needed to help with food, decorations, sponsors, and promotion

• Mississippi Art Colony Exhibit - volunteers needed to help hang the exhibit and bring food for the opening reception

• Annual Meeting - volunteers needed to help plan the luncheon and assist with invitations

• Gardening - volunteers needed to help maintain SCHF flower beds and herb garden

With five buildings, an entire city block, and a variety of programming, there are many ways to help! If you have an interest not listed above, please call the SCHF office at 601-631-2997 or stop by at 1302 Adams Street.

Ballroom Dance

The SCHF offers monthly ballroom dance classes. James Frechette, owner of Applause Dance Factory in Ridgeland, teaches classes in ballroom, Latin, swing and many other styles of dance.

Class will meet Sundays, October 16 and 30 from 5 - 7 p.m. in the Academy Building.

Both individuals and couples are welcome. The fee is $20 per person for each two hour session. For more information or for reservations, please call the SCHF office at 601-631-2997.

Mississippi Archaeology Month

In celebration of Mississippi Archaeology Month, the SCHF will offer two brown bag lunch lectures as well as an artifact identification day.

Brown Bag Lunch Lecture, October 5 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
Lecturers for the October 5th brown bag lunch series will be Jim Wojtala and Doug Sims. Wojtala’s lecture will deal with the Corp of Engineers’ archaeological investigations over the past several years in Natchez. These excavations were part of a nationally recognized bluff stabilization project in the historic city. Doug Sims will follow with an informational program about the “why and how” of the Corps of Engineers archeological program. Guests are invited to bring a lunch and enjoy this informational lunch hour lecture.

Artifact Identification Day, October 15 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
During artifact identification day, the public is invited to bring artifacts and questions to the Cultural Center. Professional archaeologists will be on hand to identify and provide estimated dates for both pre-historic and historic archaeological artifacts.

Brown Bag Lunch Lecture, October 26 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.
The speakers for the Brown Bag Lunch lecture on October 26 will be John Peukert and Dr. Joe Saunders. Dr. Saunders’s lecture will focus on the Late Archaic period in Northeast Louisiana. Peukert will discuss the recent archeological excavations at the foot of Jackson Street in downtown Vicksburg.

All events are free and open to the public. Lectures and identification will be held in SCHF’s Academy Building. Please enter the complex from Adams Street.

Mississippi Art Colony Traveling Exhibit

Since 1948, the Mississippi Art Colony has brought together artists and instructors to create, study, and critique each other’s work. The Mississippi Art Colony is the oldest of its kind in the nation, drawing on artists in varied media from Mississippi and neighboring states.

The Mississippi Art Colony passes on the beauty it creates by taking winners of its juried competition to communities across the state. The 2005 Traveling Exhibit is comprised of those chosen selections.

The exhibit will open with a reception in the Cobb House on Tuesday, October 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. It will be displayed in the Cobb House through October 25.

The Traveling Exhibit is open to the public and free of charge. Please use either the Crawford Street entrance or the courtyard entrance for the opening reception on October 11th and use the courtyard entrance for all other viewing times.

Southern Book Club

 The Southern Book Club meets the third Wednesday of each month. There is no fee to attend and it is open to the public. The group focuses on Southern authors and subjects, but is open to any good read. Book and author suggestions are welcomed.

For October, the Southern Book Club will discuss The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 19.

Please call the SCHF office for meeting location or for more information.

1302 Adams Street
Vicksburg, MS 39180
Phone: 601-631-2997
Fax: 601-631-3734
E-mail: info@southernculture.org

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