The Most Southern Place on Earth: Music, Culture, and History in the Mississippi Delta Sponsored By: The National Endowment for the Humanities Presented By: The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University Director: Dr. Luther Brown Coordinator for Student & Community Outreach: Lee Aylward Faculty: Mark Bonta, Henry Outlaw, Reggie Barnes, John Strait, Charles Wilson, Charles McLaurin, Scott Baretta Portfolio Created By: Minhazul Islam Robertson Scholar Duke University, Class of 2015 For More Information: Please visit the Delta Center website: www.blueshighway.org Or e-mail Dr. Luther Brown:
[email protected] Delta Center for Culture & Learning Dr. Luther Brown (Director)
[email protected], 662-846-4310 Welcome from the Director Dear Colleagues The Mississippi Delta is simultaneously a unique place and a place that has influenced the American story like no other. This paradox is summed up in two simple statements. Historian James Cobb has described the Delta as "The most Southern place on earth." At the same time, the National Park Service has said "Much of what is profoundly American- what people Dr. Luther Brown (Director) love about America- has come from Delta Center for Culture and Learning the delta, which is often called 'the Delta State University cradle of American culture.'" This is the Mississippi Delta: a place A place that has produced powerful political of paradox and contrast, a place leaders, both for and against segregation. A described by Will Campbell as being place in which apartheid has been replaced "of mean poverty and garish by empowerment. A place of unquestioned opulence." A place that has artistic creativity that has given the world produced great authors yet both the Blues and rock 'n' roll, and is also continues to suffer from illiteracy.