Wordless Wednesday

Mississippi State Capitol Building
Jackson, Mississippi
Posted with permission from Halcyon

"Delta Blues" by Ted Gioria

I just bought a copy of Delta Blues, The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music.  The book was written by Ted Gioia and published in 2008 by W. W. Norton and Company.  Already, Delta Blues has received rave reviews including those published in The New York NewTimes, Rolling Stone, Living Blues, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Publishers Weekly, and the Dallas Morning News. The book's cover even bears a seal identifying it as "A Book Review Notable Book of the Year - The New York Times."  Cool......... 

I actually chose Delta Blues as a gift for someone special who loves blues music and its history. But since I also like blues and its amazing history, I just had to flip through its pages to see just what this book is all about. Well, let me tell you this: Delta Blues is destined to be a must-read for blues enthusiasts everywhere.  And it will likely become required reading for certain degree programs that focus on music and history.  The book is also a perfect fit as reading material in courses that explore society and culture, particularly Southern culture. 

Contained within the book's 449 pages are chapters named for some of the best known blues songs around, including "Hard Time Killin' Floor" and "Hellhound on My Trail."  Other chapters are named for locations in Mississippi that are significant not only to those who follow the Mississippi Blues Trail, but to others who like to delve into the state's history and its influence on the development of blues as an art form.  Examples of these chapter names are "Dockery's Plantation," "Where the Southern Crosses the Dog," and "Parchman Prison." Also included in the book are a dozen or so black and white copies of actual snapshots of some early blues musicians. One such photograph was taken in H.C. Speir's Store in Jackson, Mississippi, a place, according to the book, that was a "magnet for blues musicians such as Robert Johnson and Skip James, who came .....to record....labels."  

By writing "Delta Blues," Ted Gioia has superbly chronicled the history of a music style he believes to be "the most influential musical tradition America (has ever) produced." Gioia's early training was in jazz and piano, but he developed an early interest in blues music. Ultimately, it was this interest in and a lifelong dedication to exploring the history and influence of the Delta blues that led to his writing a book that is destined to become a classic.

March is Women's History Month

Since March is Women's History Month, I decided that I would write a short post about a Mississippi woman that I have always admired - the writer, Eudora Welty. Thanks to my paternal grandmother, an avid reader who enjoyed books more than anyone I have ever known, I knew Miss Welty's name before I ever started school. Since Eudora Welty was one of my grandmother's favorite authors, her book collection at the time included "Delta Wedding," and "The Optimist's Daughter." By junior high, I had read both books, although I did not yet fully understand nor appreciate how well-known Miss Welty was at the time, in Mississippi or elsewhere in the country. I did know that she was a resident of Jackson and lived in the Belhaven area of the city, since my parents pointed out her house to me once when we were driving down the street where she lived.

On an occasion almost a decade after I first read "Delta Wedding," I met its author at Millsaps College in Jackson. Miss Welty was kind enough to sign the book, which my grandmother had given to me a few years earlier. Inscribed "Fondly, Eudora Welty," the book is one of my most prized possessions and a reminder of both my grandmother and of one of Mississippi's finest writers.

The Train Depot at Terry, MS

Last evening, I was going through some photos of my niece's lovely wedding last April. The ceremony took place at The First Baptist Church in Terry, Mississippi, an old church that is still very active in this small town of slightly over 700 people. Needless to say, my niece was a beautiful bride, her groom was handsome, and our families and their guests had a wonderful time.


Following the afternoon ceremony, we traveled a few blocks away for the reception at the old Terry Train Depot, an historic building that has been refurbished and used for events such as my niece's wedding reception. The picture here was taken as we approached the front doors to the depot on the evening of the reception. Note the mileage between Chicago and Jackson and New Orleans and Jackson above the doors.





I had not been to Terry for many years, but the small town, located about 15 miles southwest of Jackson, was much as I last remembered it. It was during this trip to the wedding and the reception that I first learned the story of the reclamation of the Terry Train Depot.


The area that later became the town of Terry, Mississippi, was established in 1811 by settlers from Virginia. Terry did not become an official town until 1877, when the Illinois Central Railroad came through the area. For some reason I don't know, the old Train Depot building was moved from Terry in the 1950's to Parham Bridges Park in Jackson. But sometime during the 1990's, a group called Friends of Terry, with some help from the Hinds County Board of Supervisors, successfully returned the historic building to the town of Terry, Mississippi. After the depot's return to the town, the group known as Friends of Terry was instrumental in raising funds to restore it.

Although many newly married couples may remember the Train Depot as the place they cut their wedding cake and danced the night away, this lovely old building stands as a wonderful reminder of the railroad's contribution to many small towns in Mississippi and elsewhere.