UM Museum Recognized by Mississippi Heritage Trust – HottyToddy

By Edwin B. Smith

College of Mississippi

For greater than 20 years, the College of Mississippi Museum has been the steward of Rowan Oak, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer William Faulkner’s residence and grounds, with the assist of college management and the Services Administration Division. 

The museum’s efforts had been publicly acknowledged Thursday (June 9) with an award from one of many state’s premier historic preservation organizations.

The Heritage Award acknowledged the museum’s stewardship and oversight of Rowan Oak for the reason that late Nineteen Nineties. The glory, which features a plaque, got here in the course of the statewide annual historic preservation convention of the Mississippi Heritage Belief in Raymond.

“Constructed circa 1840, Rowan Oak has an necessary story to inform about Mississippi and one in all our most well-known writers, William Faulkner,” mentioned Lolly Rash, MHT government director. “The Mississippi Heritage Belief is happy to acknowledge the College Museum for its stewardship of this treasured historic place with a 2022 Heritage Award.”

The award is a tribute to greater than 20 years of day by day route by Rowan Oak’s curator, William Griffith, mentioned Robert Saarnio, director of College Museum and Historic Homes.

“Invoice is the explanation this award is going on, by dint of his management, imaginative and prescient and professionalism over so a few years of devoted service,” Saarnio mentioned. “I’ve noticed usually that Invoice Griffith is amongst a really small variety of top-tier and most achieved historic home museum curators within the nation. 

“I’m proud and honored to be his colleague.”

Griffith mentioned it has been a pleasure to function curator.

“I’m honored and humbled that Mississippi Heritage Belief has chosen to offer Rowan Oak its preservation award,” Griffith mentioned. “We’ve completed loads, however we nonetheless have loads to do. This award will definitely go a great distance in encouraging our efforts.”

Organized in 1992, the Mississippi Heritage Belief was fashioned by a gaggle of preservationists who envisioned a corporation that will work with native preservation teams and assist their efforts to avoid wasting Mississippi’s wealthy architectural legacy. Over its 30-year existence, MHT has created applications reminiscent of the ten Most Endangered Historic Locations in Mississippi, the Mississippi Historic Preservation Convention and Heritage Awards.