Email announcements of the meeting were mailed to over 175 people. Thirty people signed the attendance list, and my head count during the meeting indicated that we actually had about 50 people present.
The meeting began promptly at 10am, and lasted a little over an hour, followed by continued lunchtime discussion at The Southern Grill.
This was a special event featuring guest speakers, so announcements and business were minimized.
Dr. John Hilpert, President of Delta State University, welcomed participants by saying that community engagement is one of the ways in which DSU strives to become “the best regional university in the United State.” Dr. Hilpert stated that “universities are uniquely positioned to be the receivers and transmitters of culture,” and committed DSU to an active role in regional community involvement. The Blues Highway Association is one form of community engagement that has great potential for both community and economic development.
Our speakers were Brenda Barrett, Coordinator of National Heritage Areas for the National Park Service, and Dr. Carroll Van West, Director of the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area. Dr. Van West also directs the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee State University.
Brenda Barrett began with an introduction to National Heritage Areas and a review of some of the more successful existing Heritage Areas. Success is dependent on grass roots efforts that revolve around shared heritage and preservation. Local support, and local “state of mind” with regard to shared stories and history is critical. Heritage areas that include multiple themes are more successful in most cases than those that are narrowly focused on individual themes. Heritage Areas that include crafts, music, local heritage and historical museums and societies, etc., are likely to succeed.
The National Park Service provides technical assistance, planning, funding, and help building partnerships. There are 24 National Heritage Areas at present, in 17 states, and most are in the Northeast or Midwest. The one that is most comparable to our own cultural situation is the Cane River Creole National Heritage Area in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. This Area is not comparable in terms of size or organization (it only covers some 60 acres), but it is comparable in terms of the kinds of stories the region promotes.
Heritage Areas can help with almost all of the issues we have been discussing as a group. They can help develop and install signage, produce maps and guide books, help “brand” a region, sometimes with official trademarks or “seals of approval,” and help market the region to the rest of the world. These are consequences of the Area’s establishment rather than reasons for it. The reasons to build a Heritage Area involve collectively deciding on and presenting the history and culture of a region.
The bottom line in terms of Heritage Area success is the involvement of local people, and the sharing of common heritage and experience. This means that all levels of society, all educational backgrounds, economic interests, and ethnic communities need to be included and represented at every stage of development of the Area. The communities within the Area are the primary developers of the attractions that draw and retain visitors, maintaining the financial security of the Area.
Dr. Van West began by describing the relationship between the Heritage Area he manages and the University for which he works. One of the benefits of that relationship is that the University provides financial matching for the federal dollars that support the program. Another is that the University provides inexpensive labor through its graduate students, and these students play an important role in the research activities of the Heritage Area.
Dr. Van West reviewed various ways that “success” can be measured, including money, power, and projects. He concluded that “good projects generate dollars.” He then gave an impassioned explanation of what it takes to become a good Heritage Area and why the Delta needs to pursue this status. “Place, Past, Pride, and Preservation” are the four “P’s” that lead to success. These are the issues that create a local region that has stories that resonate with the rest of the country, stories that draw visitors into the Area. These visitors will leave the area with a new understanding of the importance of the region, and a new attitude towards it, and they will leave their money behind in the process.
Dr. Van West encouraged all communities in the Delta to approach the development of a Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area with the attitude of trust, respect, and open communication. He emphasized the extreme importance of including all voices and recognizing that different constituencies may have different approaches and needs, as well as different abilities and contributions. The bottom line is that Heritage Areas provide an opportunity for entire geographic regions, like the Delta, to come together in open discussion of their past, present and future. This does not mean that history is glossed over or beautified, but that the people of a region collectively share a common heritage that is of interest to the rest of the US. Van West encouraged us to include, among the more obvious issues of blues, civil rights, land use, the River, etc., the unique role of faith and belief in Delta culture. He argued that this is something that the rest of America is intrigued by and searching for.
Dr. Van West ended by promoting the Alliance of National Heritage Areas, which is meeting in Augusta on February 19, 2004. He encouraged us to send representatives to that meeting, and also to send delegations to as many Heritage Areas as we can, on the quest for partnerships, and information about operations, budgets, etc.
During the question and answer period, both speakers made it clear again that National Heritage Areas can unify diverse communities. These Areas are not imposed from the outside in any sense. The stories that each Area tells are the stories of the people of the Area, decided on and described by those people. There are no restrictions on land use or business efforts within the Area, and the management authority’s primary role is to build partnerships among the diverse constituencies of the region.
Thanks again to Steve LaVere for his excellent notes on the meeting, and thanks to everyone who attended.