On June 16, the Pascagoula River Audubon Center will host Dr. James Giesen of the MHC’s Speakers Bureau to present his free and open to the public lecture “Water Ways: Ebbs & Flows of Mississippi History.” The program will take place in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution’s traveling exhibit Water/Ways, which the Pascagoula River Audubon Center will host from May 31 to July 7.
There are few states where water has been more central to its history and culture than Mississippi. From ship-building on the coast to Native American migration along rivers and streams, from Civil Rights Movement wade-ins to Civil War strategy, water has played a central role in how and why the Magnolia State looks and operates as it does today. Giesen will tell three interrelated histories of water in Mississippi to make the case that Mississippians today often overlook both the breadth and variety of ways that water has affected the history of their state. From massive natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the 1927 Mississippi River Flood, to great success stories like the shipbuilding and fishing industries, to less well-known incidents where water played an important role in the development of small communities and towns, the talk will tell not just the well-known water histories of the state, but show how water has become an often overlooked factor in our past, present, and future.