Social Stratification in the Deep South

Today was very interesting. We spent the day at the Bay St. Louis branch of The Hancock Library System. We rotated through a range of task.

My group started out researching post cards. This task was very interesting; noting that we were able to research a historic building, the Reed Hotel. We found out the linage of owners as well as the name changes. This task or project will allow the library to maintain an archival record of historical buildings in case one building were to be destroyed or demolished.

We then rotated to my favorite station, the oral history station. At this station we were able to listen to the stories of library employees who survived the storm. These experiences were priceless, because they allowed us to gain perspective through the eyes of various people.

The one thing that I learned was the need to realize that there is a multitude of voices that still need to be heard in order to fully understand the breath of devastation that occurred as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

Tomorrow, the plan is to leave early for the library to finish up our task. Then, we will do laundry before leaving Bay St. Louis, MS for New Orleans, LA.

To be continued …….