Eudora Welty House and Garden

As the new director of the Eudora Welty House, I am pleased to provide this update on the significant changes we’ve seen this year, many related to personnel. Jeanne Luckett, my colleague who works directly with the Welty Foundation, has reported on several initiatives and activities that are jointly undertaken by the Foundation and the Welty House. Her report allows me to address other topics.

After eight years of exceptional service to the Welty House as Education Coordinator and then Director, Karen Redhead resigned last April to spend more time with her family. Luckily, she remains involved in educational programming through the Welty Foundation. Both she and Mary Alice White graciously helped guide me through a range of histories, questions, and procedures when I took the helm. After being hired by the Museum Division of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History on July 2, 2012, I moved to Jackson from Bloomington, Indiana, where I had worked for six years as the Curator of Education at a historic house museum owned by Indiana University and operated by the IU-Libraries. I did my graduate work at IU and earned a PhD in social-cultural anthropology.

Meemie Jackson, the former Director of Education at the Welty House, resigned in mid-September to spend more time with her baby daughter. I will remain ever grateful for her willingness to train me up before departing! Michael Busbin, Education Liaison and a long-time employee with the Division, resigned at the end of December to move to Birmingham, Alabama. The vacancy of two educational positions allowed me to re-configure this crucial component at the Welty House. Lee Anne Bryan and Chase Wynn were hired in early January and February, respectively. They are Education and Outreach Specialists and work as a team. Lee Anne is no stranger to the Welty House, the Foundation, or Jackson. She earned her BA in English from Millsaps College with Suzanne Marrs serving as her primary thesis advisor. She worked part-time with Mary Alice and Karen between 2006 and 2008. Lee Anne provides important institutional memory and a solid track record of educational, organizational, and people-centered skills. Chase did an undergraduate English honors thesis at Ole Miss that focused on modern Pulitzer Prize winners; Welty’s The Optimist’s Daughter was one of the works treated in his thesis. He followed his undergraduate degree with a law degree from the same institution, worked for several summers as a camp youth counselor at Alpine Camp for Boys, and is keen to continue his endeavors as a short story fiction writer. Finally, Jessica Jones, our Special Project Coordinator, who worked so wonderfully with our docents and initiated many new ideas for our gift shop, resigned in early March to be closer to family in Georgia. Megan Wheat started in this position on July 1. Megan did her undergraduate degree at Mississippi State University in history and recently completed her MA from Baylor University’s Department of Museum Studies. At Baylor she gained two years of museum experience as a graduate assistant and intern at the university’s Mayborn Museum Complex. She worked in collections, educational programs, volunteer training and management, special events, exhibits, and the museum’s gift shop. She also served as a summer intern at the Mississippi Museum of Art in 2009. Megan grew up in the Jackson area. I am delighted to have her on board and have every confidence she will make new and veteran docents feel appreciated and warmly welcomed.

The most ambitious new project we took on during the last half of 2012 was our participation in the Museum Division’s December holiday public offering called “Old Jackson by Candlelight.” Nearly 700 people visited the House and the Education and Visitors Center on the night of December 7 over a four-hour period. Help abounded from our docents, staff at the MDAH Archives and Museum Divisions, and a host of other volunteers.

Jessica Jones revitalized our monthly brown bag series, which serves as our primary tool for docent enrichment. Led by Marrs, there is always ample and enthusiastic...