Jim Woodrick is a native of Meridian, MS, and a graduate of Millsaps College in Jackson. Since 1997, he has been on the staff of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History where he worked for many years as the Civil War sites historian. He is currently serving as director of the MDAH Historic Preservation Division. A lifelong student of the Civil War, Woodrick is a frequent speaker, highlighting Mississippi’s role in the war and a variety of other topics related to general Mississippi history. He is the author of The Civil War Siege of Jackson, Mississippi, published in 2016.