On May 17, 2023, authors Mike Bunn and Clay Williams discussed their new book Old Southwest to Old South: Mississippi, 1798-1840 as part of the History Is Lunch series.
The Mississippi Territory was created in 1798, and the next four decades would be transformative for the region. What began as a Native American homeland subject to contested claims by European colonial powers became a thoroughly American entity in the span of little more than a generation.
“Mississippi’s foundational epoch—in which the state literally took shape—has too long been overlooked or misunderstood,” said Bunn. “Clay and I wanted to examine the reasons the state developed as it did, from the sudden influx of Europeans and the harsh saga of Removal to the pivotal role of slavery and the consequences of its heavy reliance on cotton production.”
Old Southwest to Old South is the ninth book in the Heritage of Mississippi series, which is aimed at a broad audience of scholars, teachers, students, and interested general readers. The works are intended to stand as the definitive studies on the topics for years to come. The series is published jointly by MDAH, the Mississippi Historical Society, and University Press of Mississippi, with funding assistance from the Phil Hardin Foundation.
Mike Bunn is director of Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. He earned his BA at Faulkner University, an MA in history and an MA in higher education administration, both from the University of Alabama, and a graduate certificate in public history from the University of West Georgia. Bunn’s books include Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South during America’s Revolutionary Era, Early Alabama: An Illustrated Guide to the Formative Years, 1798-1826; and Alabama from Territory to Statehood: An Alabama Heritage Bicentennial Collection. He is co-author with Clay Williams of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812 and Old Southwest to Old South, Mississippi 1798-1840.
Clay Williams is program manager of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He earned his BA in political science and MA in history and public policy administration, both from Mississippi State University. From 1999 until his retirement in 2022, Williams worked for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in a variety of roles that included Old Capitol Museum director and administrator of museums and historic sites across the state. He is co-author with Mike Bunn of Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812 and Old Southwest to Old South, Mississippi 1798-1840.
History Is Lunch is sponsored by the John and Lucy Shackelford Charitable Fund of the Community Foundation for Mississippi. The weekly lecture series of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History explores different aspects of the state's past. The hour-long programs are held in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum building at 222 North Street in Jackson and livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
