Shape Up Mississippi, Vicksburg, Miss. – $17,950 to repair and protect the interior of the historic Christian and Brough Building. Repairs will focus on safeguarding an existing mural, protection of artifacts via the instillation of UV window protection and the repair of roof leaks.
Art of Living Smart Summer Camp 2023
B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, Indianola, Miss.– $28,000 to fund the Art of Living Smart Camp, where students aged 8-17 learn about the importance of the blues in the world’s music, civil rights struggles and the contributions of African Americans to American literature, art and music.
Railroad Heritage Museum Playground Upgrades
Cleveland Development Foundation, Inc., Cleveland, Miss. – $29,500 to develop and install a playground beside the Martin and Sue King Railroad Heritage Museum in downtown Cleveland, expanding the museum’s interpretive offerings in a way that is accessible to children.
The Crossroads School of American Music: Delta Sessions Guitar 101
Cleveland Music Foundation, GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, Cleveland, Miss. – $29,497 to fund the Crossroads School of American Music: Delta Sessions Guitar 101, a program that will identify, engage and nurture the next generation of Mississippi Delta musicians through a twelve-week course in guitar playing and songwriting.
9th B.B. King Day Symposium
Mississippi Valley State University, Itta Bena, Miss. – $18,923.00 to fund MVSU’s 9th B.B. King Day Symposium in September 2023. The central topic will be “Origins of the Blues.”
Read more: https://www.mvsu.edu/mvsu-set-hold-9th-annual-bb-king-day-symposium
Historic Preservation in Glen Allan: The 1940s Juke Joint of Alonzo Chatmon
The Glen Allan juke joint and store built by Alonzo Chatmon in the early 1940s. It’s currently owned by Ollie Morganfield (Photo: © T. DeWayne Moore, 2023)
Mt. Zion Memorial Fund for Blues, Music and Justice, Greenville, Miss. – $29,500 to fund the historic preservation assessment and National Historic Register nomination of the Alonzo Chatman juke joint and the production of a short promotional film around the juke joint’s history.
Dr. West takes digital photographs of the attic while Mr. Morganfield, Dr. Momon, and Dr. Ajibola look on (Photo: © T. DeWayne Moore, 2023)
The Eastside Project
Delta State University, Cleveland, Miss. – $29,500 to expand The Eastside Project. Through oral history interviews and public screenings of the documentary film, “Educational Divide: The Story of Eastside Highschool,” the project will document, preserve and raise awareness of the history of East Side High School, a historically all-Black school in Cleveland that closed in 2017 after a 2016 federal order mandated consolidation of Cleveland School District.
Delta Blues Museum: Explore, Learn, Have Fun!
Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale, Miss. – $19,255 to develop virtual educational and interpretive resources, including a feature on Chester Burnett aka “Howlin Wolf,” lesson plans about Robert Johnson, and a “virtual field trip” of the Delta Blues Museum that will bring the museum directly into the classroom.
Check out the Delta Blues Museum’s Explore and Learn resources.