TODAY is Mississippi's 196th Birthday as a state.
I have always considered myself a Goodwill Ambassador for Mississippi.
There are so many negative connotations associated with Mississippi and the south, in general. Through my poems, I attempt to convey more positive images rather than all of the negative ones usually portrayed.
Mississippi was admitted into the Union on Dec. 10, 1817, and became the 20th state of the United States of America.
Mississippi is named for the Mississippi river which forms its western boundary and empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The name roughly translated from Native American folklore means “Father of Waters.” The translation comes from the Chippewa words “mici zibi” meaning “great river” or “gathering in of all the waters” and the Algonquin word “Messipi”.
The first settlers in the region (1699) were French, and the area became part of Louisiana. It passed to the British (1763-1779) and then to the Spanish before being ceded to the United States in 1783. The Mississippi Territory, organized in 1798 and enlarged in 1804 and 1813, also included the present state of Alabama. Jackson is the capital city and the largest metropolitan area.
To celebrate Mississippi's 196th birthday, there will be an unveiling of the plans to celebrate the state's bicentennial in 2017.
Tuesday, December 10, noon Old Capitol Museum located at 100 State Street in Jackson. A reception will follow. The event is Free.
State Symbols:
Flower or bloom of the magnolia or evergreen magnolia (1952)
Wildflower coreopsis (1991)
Tree magnolia (1938)
Bird mockingbird (1944)
Song “Go, Mississippi” (1962)
Stone petrified wood (1976)
Fish largemouth or black bass (1974)
Insect honeybee (1980)
Shell oyster shell (1974)
Water mammal bottle-nosed dolphin or porpoise (1974)
Fossil prehistoric whale (1981)
Land mammal white-tailed deer (1974)
Red fox (1997)
Waterfowl wood duck (1974)
Beverage milk (1984)
Butterfly spicebush swallowtail (1991)
Nickname: Magnolia State
Interesting fact: Stickball is the oldest game to be found in America. Originally, it was played by the Choctaw Indians of Mississippi.
BOOKS AVAILABLE :
http://tinyurl.com/reflections-pnd
http://tinyurl.com/magnolia-mem-pnd
“Go, Mississippi”
Mississippi Magic
(by Don Quinn, Patricia Neely-Dorsey, and Ron Ryan) (vocal Johnny Holland)
Link to Audio of song... Mississippi Magic
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