JACKSON – The Mississippi Historical Society held its annual meeting February 22-23 in Oxford to honor its 2024 award winners, including the best Mississippi History Book, the lifetime achievement award, teacher of the year, and awards of merit.
William R. Sutton, of Clarksdale, won the Journal of Mississippi History Article of the Year Award for “The Friars Point Coup and Aftermath: Historical Memory and Personal Character in the Era of Redemption,” which examines racial violence during Reconstruction in a small Mississippi town.
Awards of Merit were presented to Coahoma Collective and StoryWorks for their work on a living history documentary play entitled “Beneath an Unknown Sky,” which highlights the importance of the Freedmen’s Bureau and Black leaders during Reconstruction; Michael H. Logue for publishing Echoes from the Bluff, a book about the Vicksburg Campaign; MoreStory Monuments Project for recognizing African American history at Mississippi University for Women; Rex Jones for creating two short films—Libation and Legislation: The Story of Mississippi’s Legislative Frat House and Steve Holland: Jesus Was a Democrat; and the University of Mississippi Slavery Research Group for projects and teaching about the history of slavery and enslaved people in Oxford and at the University of Mississippi.
Charles Reagan Wilson, professor emeritus of history and Southern studies at the University of Mississippi, received the Lifetime Achievement Award. He was the Kelly Gene Cook Sr. chair of history and professor of Southern studies at the University of Mississippi, where he taught from 1981 to 2014. He worked extensively with graduate students and served as director of the Southern studies academic program from 1991 to 1998, and director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture from 1998 to 2007.
