The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta

FAIN: BH-261615-18

Delta State University (Cleveland, MS 38733-0001)
Rolando Herts (Project Director: February 2018 to present)
Lee Aylward (Co Project Director: September 2018 to present)

Two one-week workshops for 72 school teachers on the history and culture of the Mississippi Delta, with music as a focus.

This 2019 Landmarks workshop will inform participants of the important role that the Mississippi Delta has played in American history. Designated a National Heritage Area by U.S. Congress and a National Treasure of the National Trust for Historic Places, the Mississippi Delta is recognized as “the land where the blues was born, where the Civil Rights movement took root, and where increasingly mechanized farming sparked the Great Migration,” making it the “’cradle of American culture’ for its role in shaping our nation’s character” (National Trust, 2012). Our approach is highly experiential and tells these nationally significant heritage stories at the places where they happened.

Media Coverage

NEH Impact: Creating Communities of Teachers (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Scott Muir
Publication: National Humanities Alliance Blog
Date: 3/20/2019
Abstract: "We recently surveyed 137 alumni of one such workshop, The Most Southern Place on Earth, hosted by Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi for ten years. Respondents credited this NEH-funded professional development opportunity with keeping them engaged in the essential endeavor of educating the next generation."
URL: http://https://www.nhalliance.org/neh_impact_creating_communities_of_teachers

How the Delta Center for Culture & Learning Showcases Its Impact (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Cecily Hill
Publication: National Humanities Alliance Blog
Date: 4/16/2019
Abstract: "The Delta Center for Culture & Learning at Delta State University plays a critical role in bringing the history and culture of the Mississippi Delta to the public. In addition to hosting an annual NEH Landmarks Workshop for School Teachers, “The Most Southern Place on Earth,” the center runs the International Delta Blues Project and manages the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA). NHA recently completed a survey of the Delta Center’s Landmarks Workshop that explores the program’s longlasting impact on participants. Through qualitative and quantitative data, the results demonstrate that the program rejuvenates teachers, helps them incorporate creative and engaging pedagogies into their classrooms, and encourages continued professional development and strong professional networks."
URL: http://https://www.nhalliance.org/how_the_delta_center_for_culture_learning_showcases_its_impact

Associated Products

NEH Most Southern Place on Earth Portfolios and Videos webpage (Web Resource)
Title: NEH Most Southern Place on Earth Portfolios and Videos webpage
Author: Rolando Herts
Author: Lee Aylward
Author: Carsten Pran
Author: Kamryn Washington
Abstract: This webpage serves as a publicly accessible repository for (1) written and photographic narrative portfolios that detail workshop events, lessons, and internal evaluation data and (2) documentary videos that capture workshop participants' experiences and reflections. The portfolios and videos have served as educational resources for workshop participants, alumni, and other educators, as well as program stakeholders in and outside the Mississippi Delta region.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://deltacenterdsu.com/photos-portfolios-and-videos

How the Delta Center for Culture and Learning Showcases Its Impacts (Blog Post)
Title: How the Delta Center for Culture and Learning Showcases Its Impacts
Author: Cecily Hill
Abstract: The Delta Center for Culture & Learning at Delta State University plays a critical role in bringing the history and culture of the Mississippi Delta to the public. In addition to hosting an annual NEH Landmarks Workshop for School Teachers, “The Most Southern Place on Earth,” the center runs the International Delta Blues Project and manages the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA). NHA recently completed a survey of the Delta Center’s Landmarks Workshop that explores the program’s longlasting impact on participants. Through qualitative and quantitative data, the results demonstrate that the program rejuvenates teachers, helps them incorporate creative and engaging pedagogies into their classrooms, and encourages continued professional development and strong professional networks.
Date: 4/16/2019
Primary URL: https://www.nhalliance.org/how_the_delta_center_for_culture_learning_showcases_its_impact
Blog Title: National Humanities Alliance blog
Website: Naitonal Humanities Alliance

NEH Impact: Creating Communities of Teachers (Blog Post)
Title: NEH Impact: Creating Communities of Teachers
Author: Scott Muir
Abstract: For over 50 years, the NEH has gathered K-12 teachers—over 90,000 to date—from across the country together every summer for intensive workshops which immerse them in diverse subjects and introduce engaging teaching methods. Through our NEH for All initiative, we’re conducting research that demonstrates how these NEH workshops help keep effective teachers engaged in the profession despite the many challenges that have made teacher retention a national issue. We recently surveyed 137 alumni of one such workshop, The Most Southern Place on Earth, hosted by Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi for ten years. Respondents credited this NEH-funded professional development opportunity with keeping them engaged in the essential endeavor of educating the next generation.
Date: 3/20/2019
Primary URL: https://www.nhalliance.org/neh_impact_creating_communities_of_teachers
Blog Title: National Humanities Alliance blog
Website: National Humanities Alliance

Mississippi Public Universities Focus Research Efforts on Improving K-12 Education (Blog Post)
Title: Mississippi Public Universities Focus Research Efforts on Improving K-12 Education
Author: Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning
Abstract: Delta State University has been improving K-12 education since its founding as a teacher's college in 1924. One current example is through The Delta Center for Culture and Learning's venerable summer workshop, "The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta." More than 600 teachers in public and private primary and secondary schools have participated in free weeklong workshops in this 10-year, $1.57 million endeavor that is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Date: 4/1/2019
Primary URL: http://www.mississippi.edu/newsarchive/newsstory.asp?ID=1504
Website: Institutions of Higher Learning

Tourism Plays Key Role in Mississippi Economy (Blog Post)
Title: Tourism Plays Key Role in Mississippi Economy
Author: Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning
Abstract: The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State administers various programs that promote cultural heritage tourism in the Mississippi Delta. The Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area, which the Delta Center manages, partnered with GRAMMY Museum Mississippi and the Mississippi Delta Tourism Association to create the Mississippi Delta Top 40 Places to Visit website. The Top 40 website has been used as an educational tool by the Delta Center's Most Southern Place on Earth experiential learning workshops funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Date: 3/11/2019
Primary URL: http://www.mississippi.edu/newsarchive/newsstory.asp?ID=1499
Website: Institutions of Higher Learning

Remembering the Great Migration (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Remembering the Great Migration
Abstract: Keynote speaker for Juneteenth National Freedom Day Gala, African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society of Illinois, Inc. Invited by NEH Most Southern workshop alumnus who sits on the board of the Society. Presentation included content from the Most Southern workshop.
Author: Rolando Herts
Date: 6/15/2019
Location: Decatur, IL

CommUniversity Cultural Heritage Interpretation in the Mississippi Delta (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: CommUniversity Cultural Heritage Interpretation in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Rolando Herts
Abstract: (See "Supplementary Materials" for presentation slide deck extract) The Mississippi Delta region in the southern U.S. is recognized as a nationally significant cultural geography and heritage tourism destination. In 1996, the National Park Service proclaimed it "the cradle of American culture," leading to its 2009 Congressional designation as the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area (MDNHA). In 2012, the National Trust for Historic Preservation deemed it a National Treasure because “the Delta tells many of the nation’s diverse stories” including the Blues and the Civil Rights Movement. The Delta also is the poorest region in the poorest state in the U.S. Institutionalized systems of oppression, inequality, and racial violence against African American residents have produced persistent, generational poverty conditions. The Delta’s renowned cultural heritage assets were created through African American experience. Yet, African Americans generally are not empowered to interpret their own stories, raising concerns about heritage tourism authenticity and representation. The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University and the MDNHA are inclusive, collaborative cultural heritage development catalysts in the region. Their interpretation programs have engaged African Americans in interpreting their own stories while promoting awareness and pride among all residents and visitors. This presentation examines how The Delta Center and MDNHA are strategically empowering African Americans to interpret their cultural heritage.
Date: 5/23/2019
Conference Name: National Association for Interpretation International Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Find Your Voice: Exploration and Empowerment in the Mississippi Delta (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Find Your Voice: Exploration and Empowerment in the Mississippi Delta
Author: Rolando Herts
Author: Maegan Parker Brooks
Author: Pablo Correa
Abstract: The Find Your Voice: Online Resource for Fannie Lou Hamer Studies website is a multimodal public humanities project dedicated to preserving Hamer's legacy and empowering future generations. This session introduces the multimodal site while also enlisting the audience in discussions of how mapping geographical routes and exploring cultural roots enrich the stories humanists tell. www.FindYourVoice.Willamette.edu The session's third presenter, Rolando Herts, directs the Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University as well as the Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area Partnership. Herts will discuss how the Find Your Voice/Fannie Lou Hamer project and other cultural development work with which he is engaged preserves and amplifies Mississippi Delta heritage stories.
Date: 11/9/2019
Conference Name: National Humanities Conference, Honolulu, HI

Expect the Unexpected: Achieving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through Partnerships and Collaboration (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Expect the Unexpected: Achieving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Through Partnerships and Collaboration
Author: Rolando Herts
Abstract: (See "Supplementary Materials" for presentation slide deck extract) The presentation features the Most Southern workshop's community engagement sessions on the Delta Italians (2019) and Beautiful Agitators civil rights play (2018) as examples of how the workshop creates safe spaces for diversity, equity, and inclusion activities and conversations in the Mississippi Delta.
Date: 10/15/2020
Conference Name: Alliance of National Heritage Areas Fall Conference (virtual)

---