The Oral History Project
Meridian Architectural Trust is starting this oral history initiative to save the stories of our community before they are lost forever.
We are partnering with several institutions, and we are proud to offer training with Dr. Kevin Greene in order to involve the wider community.
If These Bricks Could Talk...
Find Out How
Join us: 10/28
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Location: St Paul's Episcopal Church, 1116 23rd Ave., Meridian, MS
Partners
Lauderdale County Archives
Meridian Museum of Art
The MAX
The Rose Hill Company
Wechsler School Foundation
Kevin D. Greene, Ph.D.
Kevin Greene is an associate professor of history in the School of Humanities at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is the Director of the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, and a fellow in the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society.
He teaches courses in Oral History, American history, African American history, Urban history, World history, Research Methodology, Military History, and Cultural History.
Currently, he is the principal investigator for the Mississippi Oral History Project, a collaborative project between USM, The Mississippi Humanities Council, and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, funded annually by Mississippi’s state legislature to document the collective memory of Mississippi’s culture, heritage, and institutions.
He is the author of The Invention and Reinvention of Big Bill Broonzy, a cultural and intellectual examination of William “Big Bill” Broonzy with the University of North Carolina Press for their catalogue in African American Studies. Currently, he is writing his next book on the Victory Disc program of the United States Army and Navy
from 1940 to 1952.
Dr. Greene has also published his work in the Journal of Urban History, The Journal of Southern History, the Journal of American Ethnic History, the Journal of Mississippi History, and The New York Times.
Stephanie Scull-DeArmey
Collections Specialist, Interviewer, Editor
In 1998, Stephanie was hired as a transcriber/editor to complete the Civil Rights Documentation Project. With an all-hands-on-deck-when-needed policy, she was cross-trained in a number of areas, including training folks to conduct oral histories, interviewing, and doing a number of administrative tasks that are necessary to document and then be able to find hundreds of interviews. Stephanie loves this work; it's always interesting, running the gamut from abduction by extraterrestrials on the Mississippi Gulf Coast to coping in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She feels that she has lived more than one life after listening to so many people talk about their lives. Stephanie earned a bachelor's degree in Family Life Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi; she has worked at USM since the mid-1980s, for many years funded by U.S. Department of Education grants to train teachers and write curriculum on law-related education, hate-crime prevention, and civil rights.
Isabel Loya
Collections and Transcription Specialist
Isabel Loya is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi with a master’s in history. Her researched focused on the labor recruitment of Latinos in Mississippi during the 1970s and 1980s. As the newest addition to the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, she currently transcribes, researches, and conducts interviews for the Center.
Ross Walton
Digital Production and Preservation
Since 2008, Ross Walton has worked as a researcher, audio archivist, and producer of digital content for the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. He has digitized thousands of hours of analog audio recordings, assisted researchers in accessing the collection, and conducted interviews on a wide variety of topics. He has written and produced over 600 episodes of Mississippi Moments, a oral history-based short-format program heard statewide, Monday through Friday, on Mississippi Public Broadcasting.
Walton is also active with the Simpson County Historical and Genealogical Society, serving as the group's president for the past eight years.
The Stories of Meridian
Meridian Architectural Trust's mission is built on the belief that our stories are a vital part of saving our architectural heritage. We believe in actively preserving the stories that are tied to our built environment, whether it is the neighborhood elementary school, church, grocer, barber, or theater.
A key part of every story is its physical setting. The location frames the story. It helps us more fully experience the story. If you have a story that takes place in Meridian, we would like to learn more about it and possibly include it in our collection. Please contact us!
Historic Buildings of Meridian
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Meridian Architectural Trust is also building a digital collection of old photographs. If you have photos that you would like to donate to Meridian Architectural Trust or allow us to scan, please email us.
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If you would be interested in documenting historic houses that still exist in Meridian, please contact us here.
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If you have a story to tell about a picture in our collection, please visit this page of our website.