A Bit of Mardi Gras in Downtown Memphis
On February 2, 1872, Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia landed in Memphis, Tennessee, having come by boat down the Mississippi River from St. Louis. …
History
A Beautiful Day and Great Fun at Coldwater Day
The phenomenon of “town days” is fairly unique to the state of Mississippi, and occurs mainly in predominantly-Black towns. It is possible that they began …
75 Years of Hollering “Goat” in Tate County, Mississippi: Blues and Fife and Drum
For 75 years, there has been a Labor Day picnic in Tate County, Mississippi, featuring barbecued goat and fife and drum music. The tradition was …
Celebrating Junior Kimbrough’s Birthday With His Sons Robert and Kinney at Graceland Too in Holly Springs
Graceland Too was one of those off-the-wall quirky places I had heard of but never been to. I’m not particularly an Elvis Presley fan (although …
The Field Is Empty, The Drums Silent
A friend of mine in Senatobia had heard that there might be fife and drum going on at a party on the Compress Road between …
Bull Day in Covington’s Frazier Park-A Day of Peace and Community
Orlandus “Bull” Cobbins of Covington, Tennessee was only 29 years old when he was senselessly murdered at a relative’s home by two men who wanted …
Como Revisited
The small Mississippi town of Como in Panola County is a most unlikely dining destination. Traditionally a cotton and market town, Como came by its …
The Marianna Cut-Off: The Old South in Marianna
Lee County, Arkansas was named for Robert E. Lee at its founding, and by its folklore, at the suggestion of a Black resident, which highlights …
The Marianna Cut-Off: Singing the Blues in Hughes
The St. Francis County, Arkansas town of Hughes looms large in the blues world. Alan Lomax visited in 1959, recording musicians like William Brown, Roland …
The Marianna Cut-Off: What’s Left of Chatfield
Ghost towns are generally places where it is evident that a town was located at the spot, but in parts of the Arkansas Delta, there …