New $2.5 Million Grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. Will Support Mississippi Department of Archives and History Programming Focused on the Role of Religion in History and Culture

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded a $2.5 million grant to the Foundation for Mississippi History to support and promote Mississippi Department of Archives and History programs, activities, and projects focused on the role of religion in Mississippi history and culture. 

The grant was made through Lilly Endowment’s Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, a nationwide effort to help museums and other cultural institutions improve the public understanding of religion. This is Lilly Endowment’s second grant to the foundation. The $2.5 million grant awarded in December 2022 launched MDAH’s work to expand religious initiatives.

The MDAH Religion Initiative has three goals: attract more visitors to the Two Mississippi Museums, make archival holdings related to religion more accessible to the public, and make improvements to historic sites related to religion.

As part of the initiative, archivists process and digitize significant manuscript collections related to religion, making the materials more available to scholars, historians, and the public.

“Support from Lilly Endowment has been transformative,” said Katie Blount, MDAH director. “The Lilly Endowment funding has helped us elevate our work at MDAH and expanded our audience through outreach to church groups and deep dives into archival resources related to religion.”

With the previous grant, the Two Mississippi Museums have been able to incorporate new religious narratives and launch visitor outreach initiatives tailored to faith-based groups. The grant has also funded the annual Religion in Mississippi History Research Fellowship, which is awarded to a graduate student with an interest in conducting primary source research in MDAH’s wealth of archival materials concerning religious history in Mississippi.

In the next phase, those initiatives will continue, and work will expand to the Vicksburg Civil War Visitor Center, which is slated to open in 2028. The grant funding will cover costs associated with telling the story of the role of religion in the Civil War.  Funding also will support admission, event rentals, and tours for religious groups.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History announces grant to renovate the Huddleston Memorial Chapel at Natchez College in Natchez, MS (January 2023).

MDAH also will use Lilly Endowment funds to make a $750,000 grant to the General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Mississippi (GMBSC) to help support the restoration of the chapel building at Natchez College.

“Members of the General Missionary Baptist State Convention of Mississippi are thrilled that Lilly Endowment recognizes the collaborative work of the Foundation for Mississippi History, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and the Baptist Convention in preserving the places and presenting the stories of Mississippi’s religious communities,” said the Rev. Reginald Buckley, president of GMBSC.

“How faith impacts culture is sometimes easily noticed but mostly nuanced. This award will allow us to complete the restoration of the historic Huddleston Chapel at Natchez College but will also bring light to a religious tradition that built institutions of learning and hope in the face of tremendous odds,” Buckley said.

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About MDAH

MDAH is the second-oldest state department of archives and history in the United States. The department collects, preserves, and provides access to the archival resources of the state, administers various museums and historic sites, and oversees statewide programs for historic preservation, state and local government records management, and publications.  

About Lilly Endowment Inc.

Lilly Endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with its founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion. Although the Endowment maintains a special commitment to its founders’ hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana, it also funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion. A principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to foster public understanding about religion and lift up in fair, accurate and balanced ways the roles that people of all faiths and various religious communities play in the United State and around the globe.