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“Stand Up!” Exhibit To Close Soon
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MDAH director H.T. Holmes, left, with Jackson Public Schools superintendent Cedrick Gray in front of Lanier High School in Jackson. JPS received a $500,000 Community Heritage Preservation Grant from MDAH to restore the windows at the school, which opened in 1925. Applications are being accepted for the tenth round of the program through October 3. For more information see the department’s website, mdah.state.ms.us.
Living History at the Old Capitol Oct. 30
People from thirty states and as far away as Australia have seen the exhibit “Stand Up!”: Mississippi Freedom Summer of 1964 since it opened in June at the Winter Building in Jackson. The exhibit will run through October before traveling the state.
Drawing on photographs, artifacts, documents, and film footage from the MDAH collection, the exhibit examines the courage, violence, and promise of the “long, hot summer” of 1964 when hundreds of northern college students, most of them white, joined with local African Americans in communities across Mississippi to register voters, conduct Freedom Schools, and promote civil rights.
A replica school room modeled from photographs of Freedom Schools will give visitors an idea of the conditions volunteers and students worked under. An original short documentary film commissioned by MDAH for the exhibit explores the aims of the Freedom Summer project and tells the story of the murdered civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwemer and the creation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
“Stand Up!” is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building, 200 North Street, Jackson. The free exhibit closes November
1.	In January it will join the department’s traveling exhibit program. Traveling exhibits are available for free for in-state institutions and may be booked for eight-week increments. To learn more call 601-576-6997.
History comes to life after hours with the sixth annual Present Meets Past at the Old Capitol Museum on Thursday, October 30, 5-8 p.m. Walk the halls of the historic building and learn about life and politics in nineteenth century as living history performers portray Mississippians from the past.
“Connecting people today to the state’s past is important,” said Old Capitol director Clay Williams. “That was brought home to us recently when we learned of the death of actor and comedian Robin Williams and his family roots in Mississippi through his great-great-grandfather, former governor Anselm J. McLaurin. We have several of McLaurin’s personal belongings on display in the Old Capitol, and his daughter Daisy McLaurin Stevens is one of our living history characters this year.”
Upon entering the Old Capitol visitors will meet former presi-
dent Andrew Jackson celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the U.S. victory over the British in the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. Nine other historical figures will be stationed throughout the building, ready to discuss the events of their times, beginning with William Nichols, the architect who designed the Old Capitol.
General William T. Sherman led Union troops in numerous campaigns during the Civil War, and in May 1863 his men occupied Jackson.
William Lewis Sharkey was elected to Mississippi’s highest court before becoming provisional governor in 1865.
Ephraim G. Peyton was a state legislator who opposed secession. After the Civil War he was appointed to the High Court of Errors and Appeals.
John Roy Lynch served in the state House of Representatives from 1870 to 1873. In 1872 he
became the first African American Speaker of the House, and in 1873 the first African American Mississippian to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
William Porter, the only fictional character, is based on a composite of Board of Health employees during the Yellow Fever Epiderflic of 1878.
L.Q.C. Lamar served as U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Daisy McLaurin Stevens, the daughter of Governor Anselm McLaurin, regularly assisted with first lady duties at the governor’s mansion.
Charlotte Capers, MDAH director 1955-69, will also make an appearance. Capers oversaw the restoration of the Old Capitol and established the state history museum.
The performers will remain in character throughout the evening, and visitors are invited to ask questions and interact with them.


Mississippi History Newsletter 2014 Fall (5)
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