Mississippi River Symposium

Schedule

9:00 – Welcome in Lakeport Plantation Museum’s Visitor Center Conference Room

9:10-10:00 – Mounds on the Mississippi:  Pre-Contact Society and Culture along the Mississippi

Moderated by Katrina Windon

“The Mighty Mounds that Overlook the Rivers”: The Mississippians in American Memory

Morgan Sweeney, Arkansas State University

Mississippi River Mounds

 George Jared, Investigative Journalist and True Crime Author

10:00-10:50 – King Cotton:  Expansion of the Plantation Agriculture Economy

Moderated by Edward Salo

History of the Jordan Plantations

Carolyn Yancey Kent, Independent Scholar

Dual Currents: Steamboats, Economic Expansions and the Domestic Slave Trade

William Richardson, Arkansas State University

Lucky Ihedigbo, Arkansas State University

10:50-11:10 – Break

11:10-12:00 – The Father of Waters Archive: A Pictorial Look at the Mississippi

Moderated by Morgan Sweeney

Rising Waters, Enduring Stories: Exploring the Mississippi River through University of Arkansas Libraries Collections

Martha Anderson, Director of Organizational Development and Head of Digital Services, University of Arkansas Libraries

Deb Kulczak, Director of Metadata and Government Information, University of Arkansas Libraries

Katrina Windon, Collections Management and Processing Unit Head, University of Arkansas Libraries

Mississippi River Reflections: Reframing Grief, Healing, and Hope Through a Delta Photographic Memoir

Mary D. Hester-Clifton (writing as Debra Hester) Director of Integrated Marketing & Strategic Communications in the Office of the Chancellor, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | Author, Poet, and Photographer, My Backyard Garden Book Series | Doctoral Student in Higher Education Leadership, Arkansas State University

12:00-1:30 – Lunch on your own

We recommend visiting either Lake Village, AR, or Greenville, MS, for a sample of local dining.

1:30-2:20 – The Meandering Landscapes of the Mississippi:  Story Telling and Mythmaking of Old Man River

Moderated by George Jared

And the River Flowed Backwards- Stories, Legends, and Myths of the Lower Mississippi Delta Region

Melanie Bibbs, Administrative Specialist, Student Services, Neil Griffin College of Business

Heritage Landscapes Along the Mississippi River: A Visual Study of the Arkansas Delta

Catherine Bahn, PhD student in Heritage Studies, Arkansas State University

2:20-3:10 – Life Along the Mississippi:  An Everyday Look at Mississippi River Living

Moderated by Catherine Bahn

Recrafting a Collection: The Working Decoys of Floyd Neuser

Gregory Hansen, Professor of Folklore and English at Arkansas State University

“We Live By the River”: Lois Lenski and Mississippi Memory Through Children’s Literature

Caetlyn Elder, Assistant Archivist, Arkansas State University

3:10-3:30 – Break

3:30-4:20 – A Clear Look at The Big Muddy: New Perspectives on Old Man River

Moderated by Gregory Hansen

Reassessing A Treasury of Mississippi River Folklore After Seventy Years

James Deutsch, Senior Content Coordinator, Smithsonian Institution

A Pirate Looks at the Heartland: Jimmy Buffett, the Mississippi River, and America’s Northern Caribbean

Ed Salo, Professor of History, Arkansas State University

4:20-5:20 – Peep Light: Stories of a Mississippi River Boat Captain

Lee Hendrix, Author

5:20 – Closing