ABOUT US
MISSION STATEMENT
The Natchez Historical Society is a historical preservation organization, founded in 1954, and open to the public.
Our mission is to serve as a resource for the research, development, presentation, remembrance, and understanding of the formative history of the Natchez area.
Our mission to facilitate the memory and knowledge of the Natchez area’s history covers all the eras of its past, from pre-Colonial times to the modern. We are vitally interested in all the peoples who have made this place their home or sojourned here and made it what it has been and has become today. These include, among many others: native-Americans; European explorers; frontier settlers; planters; African-Americans, including the enslaved; merchants; soldiers; educators; artists and writers; as well as English, French, German, Irish, Italian, and Jewish immigrants.
We provide a forum for individuals interested in the history of the Natchez area to come together and share the exploration of our regional history with one another, scholars, and other experts. We aim for the end result of our work to be an understanding and appreciation of the opportunities, problems, and solutions of community-living during the Natchez area’s entire known history.
We hope that our achieving this aim on a continual basis will help animate the civic life of our region to make knowing choices in supporting the quality of life of all its citizens.
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Regular meetings of the Society include lectures and discussions held at the Historic Natchez Foundation, located at
108 South Commerce Street. Such events are scheduled on the fourth Tuesday of the months of January, February, March, April, May, September, October, and November. Notices of meetings are published in the local newspaper, on social media and also sent to members.
Our Annual Meeting occurs in January. Highlights include a respected speaker and the presentation of the Society's Historical Preservation Award.
In 2020, the Mississippi Historical Society selected the Natchez Historical Society to receive its 2020 Frank E. Everett, Jr. Award for outstanding contributions to the preservation and interpretation of local history.
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Recipient of the 2023-2024 Speaker Series grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council
THE SOCIETY
President, Virginia G . Benoist
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Vice Pres., Nicole Harris
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Secretary, Fran Trappey
Treasurer, Al King
Public Relations and Communications, Bobby Dennis
Publicity, Elodie Pritchartt
Hospitality, Laura Tate
Programs, Daye Dearing
Membership, Julianna W. Rabb
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Immediate Past President: Karen Krueger Hill
Board Members
Letter from the president
The Natchez Historical Society promotes the rich history of Natchez and its surrounding area through its series of lectures presented at monthly meetings by professional historians, authors, and experts in their subject matter. Attendees have the opportunity to learn of the rich history of the area in a combined social-educational setting with the opportunity to speak directly to the speakers. Then, at the Society’s Annual Meeting and Dinner in January, members and guests enjoy delicious fare, the presentation of a keynote speaker, and the presentation of the annual Historic Preservation Award made to the recipient individual or organization for significant contribution to historic preservation or the study of history within the Natchez area. Individual and couples annual dues are reasonably set for membership. If you are not sure what the Society is about, attend one of our events. No doubt, you will want to become a part of this fun experience and join!
Sincerely,
Virginia “Ginny” G. Benoist
President, Natchez Historical Society