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Williams re-elected
to MDAH board
Published Saturday, Oct. 17, 2009
By Jebb Johnston
Staff Writer
Rosemary Williams of Corinth and two other members of the board of trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History were re elected to new terms Friday as the board held its quarterly meeting in Corinth.
The board also elected a new trustee, Holt McMullan of Hattiesburg. He will fill the remainder of the term of Lynn Gammill of Hattiesburg. Gammill exits the board after 22 years, and the board passed a resolution honoring her service.
“It’s been among the most meaningful years of my life,” she said. In addition to Williams, the board re-elected Reuben V. Anderson of Jackson and Roland Weeks of Biloxi. The terms are six years in length. The board’s meeting at the Civil War Interpretive Center was its first meeting in Corinth in 17 years. It capped a couple of days of activities in Corinth for the MDAH board.
“It’s been a spectacular two days,” said Kane Ditto, board president. The board’s agenda ranged from budget cuts to historic markers to preservation grants.
Trustees were updated on the department’s budget, which is facing additional cuts along with the budgets of other state agencies. MDAH has seen a 2.5 percent general fund reduction this fiscal year and is bracing for a cut of up to 7 percent.
In anticipation of further cuts during the next couple of years, MDAH has been asked by the governor’s office to outline the services it provides and to rank them in order of importance.
“Last legislative session, we were requested to submit what a 20 percent cut would do to our budget,” said MDAH Director Hank Holmes.
“It was devastating … For fiscal year 2011 and fiscal year 2012, I’m hearing proposed cuts of that magnitude.”
In other business:
• The board had some discussion of whether the proposed civil rights museum needs to exist as a separate entity from the planned Museum of Mississippi History facility.
• The board approved historical markers for the following sites: Confederate Soldiers Cemetery on the campus of Ole Miss, Demonstration
School on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi, Fair Oak Springs Consolidated School in Lincoln County, Forest Grove Presbyterian Church in Leake County, the Martha Vick House in Warren County, the Simmons House in Walthall County, and the William Fisher Johnson boat landing in Bolivar County.
• The board acted on numerous grant extensions, supplements and new grants for south Mississippi communities affected by Hurricane Katrina. The board will have a special meeting Dec. 4 in Jackson to work on the next round of Community Heritage Preservation Grants. Project applications total more than $14 million and include a new request for the Verandah-Curlee House Museum.
