91传媒 Grant historians contribute to Journal of Mississippi History鈥檚 latest issue
Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜rticles by Mississippi State鈥檚 top researchers on Ulysses S. Grant are featured in the latest issue of the Journal of Mississippi History.
With the theme 鈥淕rant and Mississippi,鈥 the JMH spring/summer publication, Vol. LXXX, includes the writings of John F. Marszalek, the issue鈥檚 managing editor and special projects coordinator of 91传媒 Libraries鈥 Ulysses S. Grant Collection. Marszalek also is executive director and managing editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Association.
Marszalek said 91传媒 and MDAH鈥檚 partnership on the new JMH issue 鈥渂odes well for the future of history within our state.鈥 The issue, he said, is being sent to Mississippi Historical Society members throughout the state and is reaching history scholars in the nation鈥檚 leading academic institutions.
鈥淎mericans can now have a different view of the Magnolia State, realizing that this center of the Confederacy has now become the place to study the most important historical event of the national past,鈥 he said. 鈥淧eople can read this volume and realize the answer to the question: 鈥淗ow is it possible for Grant and Lincoln to be located in the South, in Mississippi?鈥
Since 1939, the Journal of Mississippi History has featured articles by distinguished scholars on the Magnolia State and its past, the Lower Mississippi Valley and the South. It is a publication of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and the Mississippi Historical Society.
The journal鈥檚 managing editor, William 鈥淏rother鈥 Rogers, director of MDAH鈥檚 Programs and Communication Division, said, 鈥淕iven the importance of having the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library at Mississippi State, the Mississippi Historical Society thought it would be a good idea to have a special issue on Grant. Dr. Marszalek recruited the authors of all the articles and organized the special issue. In addition, he wrote the introductory article that answers the most asked question, 鈥楬ow did 91传媒 obtain the Grant papers and memorabilia?鈥欌
Marszalek also is a former president of the Mississippi Historical Society and is an 91传媒 Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History, the university鈥檚 highest faculty honor.
鈥91传媒 President Mark E. Keenum鈥檚 presence on the MDAH board of trustees, William 鈥楤rother鈥 Rogers鈥檚 strong ties to the Grant Library, and my longtime contacts with historians around the state can lead to an exciting future,鈥 Marszalek said.
Other authors include David S. Nolen, associate professor and associate editor/reference librarian, and Louie P. Gallo, assistant editor, both with 91传媒鈥檚 Grant Presidential Library in operation since 2009. Along with former Rhode Island Supreme Court Chief Justice and longtime Grant Association President Frank Williams, Nolen, Gallo and Marszalek authored 鈥淗old on with a Bulldog Grip.鈥 Released in April by University Press of Mississippi, the biography on the nation鈥檚 18th president is the 2019 selection for 91传媒鈥檚 Maroon Edition common reading book program.
Nolen and Gallo also worked with Marszalek on 鈥淭he Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant: The Complete Annotated Edition鈥 (Harvard University Press, 2017). For the new JMH issue, Nolen and Gallo co-wrote an article about how the annotated edition helps the modern reader better understand Grant鈥檚 autobiography, considered a classic of American letters for more than 130 years.
Rogers, a former associate director of the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service in Starkville, said 91传媒 Libraries Associate Professor Ryan P. Semmes contributed an a JMH article titled 鈥淗iram R. Revels, Ulysses S. Grant, Party Politics and the Annexation of Santo Domingo.鈥 An associate professor, coordinator for 91传媒鈥檚 Congressional and Political Research Center and Grant Presidential Library archivist, Semmes tells the story of Mississippi鈥檚 Hiram Revels, the first African-American U.S. senator, who unsuccessfully worked with Grant to annex the Dominican Republic.
The JMH 鈥淕rant and Mississippi鈥 issue also includes articles by 91传媒 doctoral alumnus Timothy B. Smith, a lecturer in the University of Tennessee at Martin鈥檚 Department of History and Philosophy; Terrence J. 鈥淭erry鈥 Winschel, retired chief historian of Vicksburg National Military Park; and Susannah J. Ural, professor and co-director of the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Southern Mississippi, and a past president of the Mississippi Historical Society.
Copies can be purchased for $7.50 each by calling the Mississippi Museum Store at 601-576-6921.
In 2017, Mississippi State cemented its status as one of the leading places to study the Civil War and Reconstruction eras after Williams and his wife Virginia donated their private Abraham Lincoln and Civil War collection to the university. 91传媒 is one of only six universities in the nation housing a presidential library. Learn more at and .
For more on the Journal of Mississippi History, visit .
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at .