Suggested Family Activity • National Mississippi Day
Tomorrow is National Mississippi Day! Mississippi is well known for being the home of wonderful writers, entertainers and athletes including Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Eudora Welty, John Grisham, Richard Wright, William Faulkner, Oprah Winfrey, Jim Henson, Robin Roberts, LeAnn Rimes, James Earl Jones, and Jerry Rice, just to name a few. How many famous Mississippians can you name?
Mississippi is home of the Delta blues and the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, which can be explored online at https://mcrm.mdah.ms.gov/. To find out more about the Delta blues, visit their museum at https://www.deltabluesmuseum.org/. Our state is full of beautiful scenery and natural wonders, such as those found along the 444-mile long Natchez Trace Parkway which runs through our area. This ancient pathway began first as a trail used by herds of bison and then was used by the hunting and gathering mound builders in the area. Later, it would become a passageway for those transporting goods from the northern U.S. to the river town of Natchez. To learn more about the Natchez Trace, visit their website at https://www.nps.gov/natr/index.htm.
If you have young children, do they know how to spell Mississippi? If not, teach them the “M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, humpback, humpback, I” rhyme that has been used for generations to teach children how the word is spelled. Another fact about Mississippi is that people all over the U.S. count seconds of time by saying, “One Mississippi, two Mississippi, etc”. No one knows why – it could be just that it is a fun word to say!
