Happy National Mississippi Day! Today we observe the 20th state to join the union back on December 10, 1817.
This southern U.S. state has the Mississippi River to its west, the state of Alabama to its east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.
Its Mississippi Delta region is considered the birthplace of blues music, honored at the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale.
Also in the region is the Vicksburg National Military Park, preserving the site of a critical Civil War battle.
How did you learn to spell Mississippi? Was it the M-I crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-humpback-humpback-I rhyme? Or did you keep track of the seconds by counting one Mississippi, two Mississippi?
If you did, you’re not alone. Millions around the country recall doing this and other similar word associations with the name Mississippi!
The Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico along the western boundary of the state and derives its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi which means “Great River.”
The Mississippi River is the second longest river in North America, flowing 2,350 miles from its source at Lake Itasca through the center of the continental United States to the Gulf of Mexico.
The Missouri River, a tributary of the Mississippi River, is about one hundred miles longer!
It was along the Mississippi Delta that the blues developed in the middle to late 19th century.
Within a few decades, blues music would slowly grow in many ways creating a crop of musicians and variety of new genres.
Civil Rights
Both the American Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s were uncertain, turbulent and violent times for Mississippi.
Even though the Civil War brought about freedom for enslaved people, that was more than half of Mississippi’s population and the economy had been ruined.
Nearly one century later, circumstances had not much improved when Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. ignited the movement that would bring voices and faces to the story.
Natchez Trace
One of the most prolific features of the state is the Natchez Trace. In existence for thousands of years, this ancient pathway was beaten down by the hooves of bison.
Hunting and gathering mound builders later used the path which became an ideal road for transporting goods.
Today, it’s both a four hundred and forty-four-mile scenic parkway and natural timeline through the history of three states (Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama).
There are many fun and fascinating tidbits about Mississippi to explore.
For example, did you know while hunting in Sharkey County, 28th U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt came upon a bear he refused to shoot which is how we came to have the teddy bear today.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Join National Day Calendar® as they recognize Mississippi’s historic places and discover her untold stories.
Listen to America’s music while traveling all the highways and byways on National Mississippi Day! Use #NationalMississippiDay to share on social media.
"Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues." ~Albert Collins
For a complete list of Mississippi State and National Parks & Historic Sites visit mississippistateparks.reserveamerica.com and www.nps.gov. Check out a few of the featured sites around the state below.
NATURE and HISTORY
Clarkco State Park – Quitman
Golden Memorial State Park – Walnut Grove
LeFleur’s Bluff State Park – Jackson
Wall Doxy State Park – Holly Springs
MUSEUMS
Delta Blues Museum – Clarksdale
Mississippi Museum of Art – Jackson
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum – Jackson
Walter Anderson Museum of Art – Ocean Springs
Eudora Welty House – Jackson
Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum – Biloxi
INFINITY Science Center – Pearlington
Hidden Treasures
Birthplace of Kermit the Frog Museum – Leland
Clarksdale Crossroads – Clarksdale
Mammy’s Cupboard – Natchez
Fort Massachusetts – Gulfport
The Simmons-Wright Company – Toomsuma
Dockery Farms – Cleveland
We also observe these famous figures born in Mississippi of whom are still recognized today for their past accomplishments, heroics, talents, ingenuity and innovations: Eudora Welty, Elizabeth Taylor, Elizabeth Lee Haven, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams, Robert Johnson, Medgar Evers, B.B. King, James Earl Jones, Elvis Presley, Jim Henson, Oprah Winfrey, Walter Peyton, and Sarah (Bailey) Thomas.
Visit the link below to see those of notable birth who were not mentioned on the list above.
Here's to The Magnolia State!
#NationalMississippiDay
@mdwtp
@nationalparkservice
@OleMissFootball
@MississippiRiverCruises
@DeltaBluesMuseum
@MuppetsKermit
@VisitTheDelta
@msmuseumart
@mscivilrightsmuseum
@wamamuseum
@eudoraweltyhouse
@maritimeandseafoodmuseum
@INFINITYScienceCenter
@SimmonsWrightCompany
@DockeryFarms
@Tripadvisor
@atlasobscura
@nichecinema
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