{"id":582,"date":"2008-03-26T11:03:18","date_gmt":"2008-03-26T16:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=582"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:24:38","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:24:38","slug":"opening-session-of-oxford-book-conference-centers-on-mississippi-women-library-exhibit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/opening-session-of-oxford-book-conference-centers-on-mississippi-women-library-exhibit\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening Session of Oxford Book Conference Centers on Mississippi Women Library Exhibit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\nApril 3 library luncheon features singer\/songwriter Tricia Walker<\/i><\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nOXFORD, Miss. Early registrants for the Oxford Conference
\nfor the Book on opening day April 3 have an opportunity to
\nattend a luncheon at 11:30 a..m. in the J.D. Williams
\nLibrary’s Department of Archives and Special Collections.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nHosted by Julia Rholes, dean of libraries, the event
\nincludes a tour of the library’s ongoing exhibit “In her
\nOwn Words: An Exhibition of Mississippi Women” and
\nentertainment by singer\/songwriter Tricia Walker. A native
\nof Jackson, Walker lives and works in Nashville, where her
\nsongs have been recorded by top artists such as Faith Hill,
\nAlison Kraus and Patty Loveless.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBesides singing songs of native female Mississippians for
\nluncheon guests, Walker also plans to talk about her
\nexperiences growing up in the state and about the women who
\ninspired her, said Jennifer Ford, director of Archives and
\nSpecial Collections.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nLike the Mississippi women close to Walker, the women
\nhighlighted in the library exhibit undoubtedly inspired
\nthose whose lives they touched.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The exhibition chronicles the lives of Mississippi women
\nfrom the antebellum period through the present,” Ford said.
\n“It focuses on the lives of famous women such as Eudora
\nWelty, Ellen Douglas, Beth Henley, Theora Hamblett and
\nothers, but it also focuses on the daily lives of ordinary
\nwomen whose voices may have been heard only as a whisper,
\nif at all.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe book conference is dedicated to Zora Neale Hurston, who
\nmight fit well into the latter category of women had she
\nbeen from Mississippi. Hurston, an African-American born in
\nAlabama, was a writer, folklorist and anthropologist whose
\nwork remained relatively unread until after her death in
\n1960. The conference, runs through April 5 with regular
\nconference sessions free and open to the public. For a
\ncomplete conference schedule, visit
\nhttp:\/\/oxfordconferenceforthebook.com\/.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The library has been a great supporter of the book
\nconference over the years; its annual exhibition and lunch
\nprogram is always a highlight of the conference,” said Ann
\nAbadie, associate director of the UM Center for the Study
\nof Southern Culture. “I am delighted with Jennifer Ford’s
\nIn Her Own Words’ exhibit and with the special program she
\nhas arranged.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe library exhibit runs through July 31 and is free and
\nopen to the public 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It
\nincludes numerous artifacts from the library’s permanent
\ncollections exhibited in 18 display cases in the Faulkner
\nRoom on the library’s third floor.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nItems in the exhibit highlighting lesser-known Mississippi
\nwomen include:
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n