The Eudora Welty Collection Mississippi Department of Archives and History

The materials transferred to the Archives and Records Services Division (ARS) from the Museum Division since March 2011, along with those transferred to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) upon the settlement of Eudora Welty's estate, continue to be incorporated into the Eudora Welty Collection. Any newly acquired collections of Welty-related material not donated to MDAH by Eudora Welty or her heirs are established as collections unto themselves, in accordance with archival rules of provenance, and not added to the Eudora Welty Collection proper.

The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded an implementation grant to MDAH to support the preservation, digitization, and enhancement of access to the papers and photographs of Eudora Welty. The Eudora Welty Foundation is matching MDAH's contribution to the grant. The two-year project aims to professionally conserve and scan selected items in the Eudora Welty Collection. The preparation and digitization of items will necessitate the closure of selected series from May 2019 through April 2021.

Otherwise, no series are closed but some series are undergoing substantial revisions. There are also new series being added such as Interviews with Eudora Welty (Series 44). This series consists of published and unpublished interviews of Eudora Welty by such figures as Charlotte Capers, Susan Ketchin, and Noel Polk. The topics covered range from discussions of Welty's written works and photography; her writing process; and Welty's close friendships among other subjects.

We suggest researchers contact MDAH, refdesk@mdah.ms.gov, to verify the availability of series that are of particular interest to them prior to visiting the archives. Readers are invited to visit the MDAH website where the home page mdah.ms.gov/new/ features Welty information with some regularity and provides a portal to the online catalog where new series and series revisions may be posted.

The A&RS division continues to use Koha, an open source system, for its online catalog. An instruction sheet, The Eudora Welty Collection: Collection Research and Access via the Online Catalog, has been prepared to aid researchers in readily locating catalog records for the Eudora Welty Collection and other Welty-related materials in the division's holdings. The document concludes with a current series list.

Researchers interested in obtaining publication rights for, and/or reproductions of, material in the Eudora Welty Collection may benefit from information provided in The Eudora Welty Collection: Contacts for Use Permission and Reprographic Services.

The 2020 Eudora Welty Research Fellowship cosponsored by the Eudora Welty Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History will be awarded in April. On-site research at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building, supported by the $2,000 stipend, will be conducted during the summer. The 2019 Fellow was Ms. Kaitlyn E. Smith, a PhD candidate in English, Literary Studies, at the University of South Carolina.

Dr. Betty T. Uzman retired in March 2019 after more than twentyfive years of outstanding service to MDAH and the state of Mississippi. Uzman joined MDAH in 1994 as a manuscript curator in the Archives and Library Division, now the ARS Division; served as a senior historic resources specialist; and as the lead archivist working on the Eudora Welty Collection since 2005. During her tenure, the processed portion of the Welty Collection grew from forty-three cubic feet to two hundred and thirty cubic feet. Uzman's archival mastery and incomparable knowledge of Welty's life, works, and the associated collection provided immeasurable guidance to researchers. In 2019, Uzman received the Eudora Welty Society Service Award, presented on occasion to individuals who have rendered exceptional service to Eudora Welty Studies.

Ms. April Blevins, a PhD candidate in Public History at Middle Tennessee State University, joined MDAH in May 2019 as a manuscripts archivist and serves as the lead archivist processing the Eudora Welty Collection and preparing items for the NEH grant. Blevins comes to us from the Margaret Walker Center where she completed her professional residency. She received a Masters of Library Science from North Carolina Central University and a bachelor in Classical Studies from Dartmouth...