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Brown, Smith to present fourth in 'Reflecting Mississippi' series at ICC-Fulton, Oct. 18

Dr. Alan Brown, professor of English at the University of West Alabama, and Sihya Smith, assistant curator at the Oren Dunn City Museum in Tupelo, will present “Haunted History: How Ghost Stories Reflect Mississippi’s Identity,” Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. in the W. O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center auditorium at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus.

            Since he began at UWA, Brown has developed an abiding interest in Southern folklore, which culminated in 29 books. For the past three decades, his focus has been on Southern ghost lore and on African American culture and music. Also, his interest in Southern folklore has manifested itself in several collections of Southern ghost stories. He has investigated numerous haunted sites, including the Artist’s House in Key West, Fla., Miss Molly’s Bed and Breakfast in Fort Worth, Tex., King’s Tavern in Natchez, the Waverly Hills Tuberculosis Sanitarium in Louisville, Ky. and the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Ark. In addition, he has hosted ghost tours in Charleston, S.C., Livingston, Ala., New Orleans, La. and Meridian. He earned the bachelor’s degree from Millikin University, master’s degrees from Southern Illinois University and the University of Illinois and the doctoral degree from Illinois State University.

            A Tupelo native, Smith has lived all around the United States, spent a year in Mexico and two years in Rwanda with the Peace Corps. She has history degrees from the University of North Alabama and Mississippi State University. Smith has taught both high school and middle school history. Her interests include southern folk history and the role genocide plays in shaping world history and cultures.

            The presentation is part of “Reflecting Mississippi: Finding Yourself in Mississippi’s Reflection,” made possible by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council. Additional presentations are scheduled throughout 2022-23.



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