{"id":108537,"date":"2026-07-28T08:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/news-and-events\/?p=108537"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T13:19:14","slug":"neh-summer-institute-brings-educators-from-across-the-nation-to-the-mississippi-delta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/live-deltastate.pantheonsite.io\/news-and-events\/2026\/07\/neh-summer-institute-brings-educators-from-across-the-nation-to-the-mississippi-delta\/","title":{"rendered":"NEH Summer Institute brings educators from across the nation to the Mississippi Delta"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n

CLEVELAND, Miss. \u2014 <\/strong>The Delta Center for Culture and Learning at Delta State University welcomed 72 educators from more than 25 states for the National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute, \u201cThe Most Southern Place on Earth: The Music, History, and Culture of the Mississippi Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

The institute was offered in two sessions, June 21-27 and July 12-18. Now in its 20th year, the program was led by Director of the Delta Center for Culture and Learning Dr. Mandy Truman and Program Director Lee Aylward.<\/p>\n

Named for historian James C. Cobb\u2019s landmark book about the region, the institute combined guest lectures, site visits and hands-on engagement with local culture bearers. Participants examined topics including the civil rights movement, the murder of Emmett Till, the history of education in the Delta, religion\u2019s role in community life and the origins of the blues.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can read a thousand books and watch every documentary, but you won\u2019t fully understand a place until you immerse yourself in the landscape,\u201d Truman said. \u201cThis workshop provides a place-based learning experience to 72 educators from across the country. They will return home and teach this history through a new lens and a profound understanding of the Mississippi Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

The institute took educators across the Delta and into Memphis. Stops included the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola, Dockery Farms and civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer\u2019s gravesite. Participants also visited the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, Black Power Park, Mound Bayou and the Delta Center\u2019s Mississippi Freedom Trail marker commemorating the 1969 Delta State sit-in.<\/p>\n

The Memphis portion of the institute included visits to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and the National Civil Rights Museum.<\/p>\n

Each day featured live blues performances and presentations from musicians, scholars and others with firsthand connections to the region\u2019s history. Presenters included Keith Johnson, Reggie Barnes, Kwan Kash and Dr. Wheeler Parker Jr., the last surviving witness to Till\u2019s abduction.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt introduces teachers to a region that\u2019s been almost forgotten and misunderstood,\u201d Aylward said.<\/p>\n

Participants left the institute with firsthand knowledge and new curriculum materials they could use to share the Mississippi Delta\u2019s history and culture with students in classrooms across the country.<\/p>\n

The workshop was funded through the NEH Summer Institutes and Seminars for K-12 Educators program.<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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