University Libraries Receives Civil Rights Programming Grant

News item published on: 2013-09-25 09:58:00

September 2013

University Libraries at the University of Southern Mississippi received the Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to mark the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s March on Washington. Through the grant, University Libraries, working with the Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County, will present scholarly presentations and documentaries with riveting new footage illustrating the history of civil rights in America.

University Libraries will feature presentations from local civil rights scholars as well as a documentary film series about the history of civil rights in America. “We are pleased to receive a grant from the NEH to provide programming around these films,” said Jennifer Brannock, curator of rare books and Mississippiana and project director of the grant. “Pairing the lectures with the films will provide students, faculty, and community members a number of opportunities to learn more about the history of civil rights especially which is timely with the anniversary of Freedom Summer upon us in 2014.”

Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) that uses the power of documentary films to encourage community discussion of America’s civil rights history. NEH has partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History to develop programmatic and support materials for the recipients of the grant.

The lectures and film series will take place in 2014 at the University of Southern Mississippi and The Library of Hattiesburg, Petal and Forrest County. For more information about the grant or the events, contact Jennifer Brannock at 601.266.4347 or .