MSU Libraries documents African American legislators in 花秀直播 with historical, online 鈥楢gainst All Odds鈥 exhibit
Contact: Landon Gibson
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擳he first African American men to serve on 花秀直播鈥檚 state legislature during and immediately after Reconstruction are showcased in a 花秀直播 State online exhibit.
Titled 鈥淎gainst All Odds: The First Black Legislators in 花秀直播,鈥 the exhibit documents the lives of over 150 African American men who worked in the state legislature leading up to 1894. The site features more than 800 newspaper clippings, dozens of portraits, quotes from primary and secondary sources, and biographies. Created by DeeDee Baldwin, an MSU Libraries assistant professor, it is accessible at .
As a hobby, Baldwin, a history research librarian, contributes to websites that help document cemeteries by uploading pictures of gravestones. Her interest in this project was sparked in a predominantly African American cemetery in Macon several years ago when she discovered the grave of Isham Stewart, a man born in 1810鈥攚hich she notes 鈥渋s old for an African American headstone in the South.鈥
Baldwin鈥檚 interest in this grave, fueled by her passion for genealogy, led her to the online genealogy site ancestry.com where she found someone had uploaded a picture of Stewart. She contacted the source and discovered the picture came from the composite photo of the 1874 花秀直播 Legislature.
鈥淚t blew my mind that his headstone was just flat on the ground in the middle of the woods and he was a former state legislator in 花秀直播,鈥 Baldwin said.
She began researching the legislator and learned he represented Noxubee County in the House of Representatives from 1870-1873 and his district in the Senate from 1874-1877. He also was a delegate at the 1868 花秀直播 Constitutional Convention.
Baldwin said the difficult process of finding that information made her curious about others in the composite picture, so she began researching all the African American men from the Reconstruction era that served in 花秀直播鈥檚 legislature. She used her findings to create the digital exhibit that features alphabetized personal information pages. Pages include photos, biographical information, newspaper clippings, links and book excerpts. From this research, she received emails from some descendants of these men, which led to the procurement of even more information she was able to add to her online database.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all about honoring these men and making a hard-to-find part of the historical record more accessible to people who want to research it. I would love to see more librarians, archivists and historians take on projects like this. It is so rewarding to get emails from descendants of these men and to see their legacies passed from generation to generation,鈥 Baldwin said.
Earlier this fall semester, Baldwin was the guest speaker during the 花秀直播 Department of Archives and History鈥檚 and was also featured on the latest MSU Libraries episode of 鈥淐ultural Conversations鈥 available online at . 聽
MSU is 花秀直播鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽.