Port Gibson in Claiborne County, Mississippi — The American South (East South Central)

MISSING

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Irwin Russell

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller

1. Irwin Russell Marker

Inscription. E. 1 block is birthplace of Irwin Russell. In a short life of 26 years he won fame with his poems in Negro dialect. Author of “Christmas Night in the Quarters” and other poems.

Erected 1954 by Mississippi Historical Commission.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Arts, Letters, Music. In addition, it is included in the Mississippi State Historical Marker Program series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1853.

Location. Marker is missing. It was located near 31° 57.463′ N, 90° 58.977′ W. Marker was in Port Gibson, Mississippi, in Claiborne County. It was at the intersection of Church Street/Blues Highway (U.S. 61) and Jackson Street, on the right when traveling north on Church Street/Blues Highway. Touch for map. Marker was at or near this postal address: 807 Church St, Port Gibson MS 39150, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker was in Southwest Mississippi, in Natchez Trace Corridor,

and in Greater Jackson.

It was also in the American South,

specifically in the Deep South,

and in the Great River Road Region.

Globally,

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it was in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it found itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location: Methodist Church (within shouting distance of this marker); St. James Episcopal Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Bruinsburg (within shouting distance of this marker); Hopkins House (within shouting distance of this marker); Hughes Home (within shouting distance of this marker); Judge Maury House (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); O'Hara Cottage (about 500 feet away); Temple Gemiluth Chassed (about 500 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Port Gibson.

Also see . . . Irwin Russell. Chance encounters with freed slaves on the street, songs in the plantation housing quarters, and simple descriptive dialogue became exotic living language transcribed in the tongue and tense of the speakers. Best known

Irwin Russell Marker (post only) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Duane and Tracy Marsteller, March 11, 2024

2. Irwin Russell Marker (post only)

was “Christmas Night in the Quarters,” a poetic reenactment of a Christmas celebration Russell overhead on the Jefferies Plantation in Coahoma County. (By Jeffrey Klingfuss, Mississippi Encyclopedia, Center for Study of Southern Culture) (Submitted on April 3, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Irwin Russell (1853-1879) image. Click for full size.

Southern life in southern literature: Selections…, by M.G. Fulton; via Internet Archive (Public Domain)

3. Irwin Russell (1853-1879)

His poems were published in Scribner's Magazine and The Times-Democrat (now The Times-Picayune in New Orleans, among others. He died of pneumonia and fever in New Orleans two days before Christmas 1879.

Credits. This page was last revised on April 4, 2024. It was originally submitted on April 3, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 200 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 3, 2024, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

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