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Vicksburg in Warren County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)
 

William R. Ferris

— Mississippi Blues Trail —

 
 
William R. Ferris Marker Side 1 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
1. William R. Ferris Marker Side 1
Inscription.
(side 1)
The long and distinguished career of William “Bill” Ferris, one of America’s leading folklorists, was inspired by the blues, religious music, and stories he heard while growing up on his family’s farm in rural Warren County. Ferris documented Mississippians through recordings, books, film and photography, and brought broader recognition to the blues and other folk expressions through his advocacy work in academia and at the National Endowment for the Humanities.

(side 2)
William R. Ferris was born in Vicksburg on February 5, 1942, and was raised 17 miles southeast of the city on his family’s farm, Broadacres. African-American residents there introduced Ferris to the blues, the music of their church on the farm (Rose Hill), and Nashville R&B radio station WLAC. His early exposure to African-American music was furthered during visits to Vicksburg, where he attended shows by groups including the Red Tops and the Knights.

Ferris began documenting life and music on the farm while still in high school, and at Davidson College became involved with folk music and the Civil Rights Movement, passions he brought back to the Vicksburg area. A visit to Ireland sparked Ferris’ interest in studying folklore, which he pursued at the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral dissertation
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focused largely on the circle of musicians surrounding Leland bluesman James “Son” Thomas, and parts of it appeared in the first of his many books, Blues From the Delta (initially published in England in 1970, revised in 1978). Ferris’ blues recordings of Thomas, Scott Dunbar, Lee Kizart, Lovey Williams and others were issued on albums by various labels in England and the U.S. He also documented his wide-ranging fieldwork through 15 films, including Give My Poor Heart Ease, Mississippi Delta Blues, and Gravel Springs Fife and Drum.

In 1970 Ferris returned to Mississippi to teach at Jackson State University, and his public advocacy work for the arts at the time included cofounding, with Judy Peiser, the Memphis-based Center for Southern Folklore. Ferris’ film work led to a position at Yale University, where he brought Son Thomas and B.B. King to his classrooms. In 1978 Ferris became the founding director of the University of Mississippi’s Center for the Study of Southern Culture, which brought a new respectability to studies of everyday life in the South. Through his efforts the university acquired Living Blues magazine in 1983 along with the three collections that formed the core of the Ole Miss library’s Blues Archive, from B.B. King, Living Blues, and Ferris’ University of Pennsylvania mentor, folklorist Kenneth Goldstein. While at
William R. Ferris Marker Side 2 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
2. William R. Ferris Marker Side 2
the Center Ferris coedited the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, hosted Mississippi Public Broadcasting’s blues radio show “Highway 61” and released more field recordings of blues, country, gospel, and fife and drum music on the Center’s Southern Culture label.

From 1997 to 2001 Ferris served as the Chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and in 2002 returned to academia at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he served as a professor of history and folklore and as the senior associate director of the Center for Study of the American South. While there he wrote multiple books drawing on his early fieldwork, including Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues. In 2019 Ferris received a GRAMMY Award for Best Historical Album for the Dust-to-Digital boxed set Voices of Mississippi: Artists and Musicians Documented by William Ferris, which features his recordings, photographs and films.
 
Erected 2019 by the Mississippi Blues Commission. (Marker Number 205.)
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansArts, Letters, MusicEntertainment. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi Blues Trail series list. A significant historical date for this entry is February 5, 1942.
 
Location. 32° 21.13′ 
Wiliam R. Ferris Marker Close up side 2 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
3. Wiliam R. Ferris Marker Close up side 2
N, 90° 52.897′ W. Marker is in Vicksburg, Mississippi, in Warren County. Marker is at the intersection of Washington Street (Business U.S. 61) and Grove Street, on the right when traveling north on Washington Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Vicksburg MS 39183, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Railroads and Rivers (within shouting distance of this marker); 61 Highway (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Vicksburg Campaign and Siege (about 400 feet away); C.S. Company A, (about 500 feet away); Jitney Jungle (about 500 feet away); Governor and Mrs. Kirk Fordice (about 500 feet away); LeTourneau (about 500 feet away); Miss Mississippi (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Vicksburg.
 
Wiliam R. Ferris Marker close up Side 2 image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
4. Wiliam R. Ferris Marker close up Side 2
Wiliam R. Ferris Marker record image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
5. Wiliam R. Ferris Marker record
Wiliam R. Ferris Marker looking north on Washington Street image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Tim Fillmon, August 26, 2019
6. Wiliam R. Ferris Marker looking north on Washington Street
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on July 31, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 19, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 157 times since then and 7 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on April 19, 2020, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024