Civil War Governors of Mississippi Digital Documentary Edition

FAIN: PW-269391-20

University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0001)
Susannah Ural (Project Director: July 2019 to present)

The digitization, transcription, and annotation of the papers of Mississippi state governors from 1859 to 1882 to include official correspondence, military telegrams, and letters and petitions from the public.

The Civil War Governors of Mississippi Digital Documentary Edition (CWGM) is an open-access collection of nearly 50,000 documents from the state’s governors’ papers from the late 1850s through the early 1880s that will be scanned, transcribed, and annotated over the next six years. CWGM is seeking a three-year NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant to fund the first three-years of this project. Mississippi's Civil War-era governors' records capture the everyday experiences of southerners from the period just before the American Civil War through the end of Reconstruction and into the New South. The project involves a cross-domain partnership between archivists at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, digital archives specialists at the Mississippi Digital Library, and a historian-led research team at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Associated Products

Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project (Database/Archive/Digital Edition)
Title: Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project
Author: Susannah J. Ural
Author: Lindsey Peterson
Author: Stephanie Seal Walters
Author: Anneliese Dehner
Abstract: Regardless of race, class, or gender, nineteenth-century Americans contacted their governors about every concern imaginable. That makes governors' collections an invaluable resource for "hearing" from individuals whose voices are often missing in traditional sources, as well as from those who wielded significant power during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. The Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project (CWRGM) is digitizing, transcribing, and annotating these valuable records from Mississippi’s governors’ offices and making them freely available online. The project covers nine administrations, beginning amid rumblings of secession in late 1859, continuing through civil war, emancipation, occupation, and Reconstruction, ending in the early Jim Crow South in 1882. Thanks to the diverse nature of this collection, CWRGM documents touch on nearly every topic imaginable. These include questions of loyalty and dissent, the process of emancipation and the changing definition of citizenship, and military experiences that ranged from state militias to Confederate national service to the role of nearly 20,000 Mississippians who served in the Union Army and Navy. The collections also contribute to ongoing debates about Civil War memory and commemoration, and help users explore the question of whose experiences are preserved and how, and whose are ignored or erased. This site features documents in the collection as they are digitized, transcribed, and provided with early annotations through subject tagging features. We encourage users to review the "How to Get Started" and "Explore the Collection" sections that offer suggestions on how to best search the collection. "Educator Resources" offers a sampling of about eighty documents that spotlight how the collection is deepening our understanding of this era, and includes short contextualizing essays, lesson plan
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://cwrgm.org/
Primary URL Description: This is the home site of the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi project
Secondary URL: http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/
Secondary URL Description: This is the home of the CWRGM Sample Document site, launched in September 2020, to provide experts and non-experts alike with a sense of what kind of documents are in the collection and how they can help scholars, teachers, students, and the public.
Access Model: Open Access

Prizes

"Excellence in History"
Date: 3/11/2022
Organization: Mississippi Historical Society
Abstract: The Excellence in History Award is given as merited in recognition of an outstanding publication, documentary, podcast, or project contributing to the knowledge of Mississippi history. The winner receives a $300 cash award and is invited as the society’s guest to its annual meeting and honored during the Awards Luncheon. You will recall that this award combines the former Elbert R. Hilliard Oral History Award and Atkinson Award. MHS is especially pleased to have the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project as the first winner of this award because it sets a high bar, which is what we want. By recognizing a complex, multi-year project with multiple organizational partners, the Society sets an important precedent for this award. It is richly deserved, and you honor us by letting us honor you and your work. Brother Rogers, Director Programs and Communication Division Mississippi Department of Archives and History

CWRGM Podcast (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: CWRGM Podcast
Writer: Susannah J. Ural
Writer: Stephanie Seal Walters
Writer: John Heckman
Director: Susannah J. Ural, Ph.D.
Producer: John Heckman
Abstract: This is funded by the NHPRC, not the NEH, but it is a scholarly audio recording tied to the project in year 1. In March-April 2021, CWRGM partnered with "The Tattooed Historian," John Heckman, to launch a five-part Facebook Live series. This featured CWRGM Director Susannah Ural, Senior Assistant Editor Stephanie Seal Walters, and one field expert each week. We could have created our own podcast, but Heckman had a built-in audience that would drive far more viewers to our inaugural events. We also archived video from our live shows and stripped the audio to create CWRGM's first podcast series. Funded by USM's Dale Center for the Study of War & Society, we reached an incredible audience: • Engaged over 6,000 viewers over the 5-week series on Facebook Live. This does not include YouTube. The number there is a bit less than 10% of the Facebook number as that channel is still in its infancy. • Over 500 likes/shares on Instagram and Twitter combined for the events. • Over 1,500 downloads of the podcast series • Interacted with audience in US, Canada, UK, Australia, with others scattered around the world You can access all of the material – videos and podcasts at https://cwrgm.org/page/podcast. Between this effort and other public transcription events, we have attracted many volunteer transcribers, some of whom are incredibly talented and dedicated.
Date: 04/01/2021
Primary URL: https://cwrgm.org/page/podcast
Primary URL Description: Home page for CWRGM podcasts and video
Secondary URL: http://susannahjural.com/cwrgm/podcasts
Secondary URL Description: Alternate home for CWRGM podcasts and videos
Format: Digital File
Format: Web

CWRGM Lesson Plans, 2020-2023 (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: CWRGM Lesson Plans, 2020-2023
Author: Alan Wheat
Author: Jerrid Woods
Author: Catherine Beasley
Author: Frances Kalusche
Author: Skye Morgan
Author: Lindsey Peterson
Author: Drew Gardner
Author: Kari Baker
Abstract: CWRGM lesson plans are designed by experienced educators who specialize in social studies, language arts, geography, and economics. Our goal is to help educators and students to dig deeply into our rich collections to Better understand this revolutionary era Learn fundamental skills in historical analysis and interpretation. Our educators have designed these plans around a central idea: one of the best ways to understand the past and primary source documents, in particular, is to be able to explain them to others. In these activities, students will identify vocabulary they are unfamiliar with and define those terms. They will then analyze selected documents from the CWRGM collection using primary source analysis tools from the National Archives. Lastly, students will take that information and complete an assignment that evaluates their understanding of these sources and the history that surrounds them.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://cwrgm.org/page/lesson-plans
Primary URL Description: This is the "Lesson Plans" section of our CWRGM website.
Audience: K - 12

Exploring Mississippi Experiences during the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction (guest post on external blog) (Blog Post)
Title: Exploring Mississippi Experiences during the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction (guest post on external blog)
Author: Susannah J. Ural
Abstract: Blog post for University of Southern Mississippi's Dale Center for the Study of War & Society featuring the CWRGM project its uses for experts and non-experts alike
Date: 10/16/2020
Primary URL: https://dalecentersouthernmiss.wordpress.com/2020/10/16/exploring-mississippi-experiences-during-the-u-s-civil-war-and-reconstruction/
Primary URL Description: Blog of the University of Southern Mississippi Dale Center for the Study of War & Society
Blog Title: Exploring Mississippi Experiences during the U.S. Civil War and Reconstruction
Website: USM Dale Center for the Study of War & Society

Beyond the Letters: A Blog Exploring the Backstories of the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project (Blog Post)
Title: Beyond the Letters: A Blog Exploring the Backstories of the Civil War & Reconstruction Governors of Mississippi Project
Author: Guest authors
Abstract: Ural and Peterson launched the CWRGM blog to feature guest posts, and their own, about specific documents in the collection. Some are more scholarly, some are targeted toward non-expert audiences, but all are designed to generate interest and user engagement with the collection.
Date: 06/01/2022
Primary URL: https://cwrgmblog.org/
Website: Beyond the Letters

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