Happy 250th, America! To celebrate, we’re sharing some recent road trips that honor America’s 250th birthday and Mississippi’s contributions to the arts.
We had a blast last fall visiting Holly Springs and Columbus, MS with our Bay St. Louis show coming up on Jan. 29 (for broadcast Feb. 4-8). Other towns are in the planning stages so please stay tuned!
January air dates:
Wednesday, Jan 21 – Sunday, Jan 25
Holly Springs, MS – Author John T. Edge with songwriter Autumn Nicholas and world beat band, Afrissippi
Wednesday, Jan. 28 – Sunday, Feb. 1
Columbus, MS – Author Michael Farris Smith, W Jazz Combo, alt-rockers Hartle Road
Wednesday, Feb. 4 – Sunday, Feb. 8
Bay St. Louis, MS – Author Ralph Eubanks, veteran bluesman Corky Siegel and gospel group, the Veal Brothers
Special thanks Bay St. Louis show: Homegrown – A Storied Exchange
Special thanks Columbus/Holly Springs: Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area and America 250 – Mississippi
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This week’s show Wednesday, Jan 21 – Sunday, Jan 25 was recorded at our November 16, 2025 visit to Holly Springs, MS and the Kate Freeman Clark Museum.
The Holly Springs show celebrates the spirit of two of that town’s most accomplished artists: journalist Ida B. Wells and painter Kate Freeman Clark.
Wells was a Black journalist and co-founder of the NAACP, known for her anti-lynching, pro-suffragette editorials in the 1890s. In 1884, she gained renown for refusing to leave her first-class seat on a Memphis train (and go to the “colored” car) biting a crew member who man-handled her. (She later sued the railroad company and won – though later tossed by the Tennessee Supreme Court).
Wells was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 2020.
Kate Freeman Clark was a prolific painter of some 1,500 canvases. Following her death in 1957, Clark bequeathed her home and hundreds of her works to the town of Holly Springs.
After examining the contents of Clark’s art shed, the town was amazed to discover hundreds of paintings and also the fact that Clark had had a decades-long New York art career, selling and showing her work at a time when few women were “allowed” careers as fine art painters. (Indeed, she signed her paintings “Freeman Clark” as a cover).
We found the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery to be exactly what the artist envisioned: “A museum of fine and social arts.”
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The Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area is a region where Appalachian and Delta traditions meet and where literature, music, civil rights and Native American history weave together a uniquely American tapestry.
Local stories are America’s story.
Hosted on historic sites, these road shows unite live performance, place-based storytelling, and community memory to demonstrate how the voices of North Mississippi continue to echo through our national story.
“I immediately connected with Nancy Carpenter (Executive Director, America250 Mississippi) through our love for southern writers and their homes,” recalled Lucy Gaines, Thacker Mountain Radio Hour executive director.
“We designed this series to extend that connection of writer’s homes to all Mississippians who can take pride in our creative roots which are still very much thriving today.”