USM’s Tuuri Takes Reins as President of Mississippi Historical Society
Mon, 03/11/2024 - 03:50pm | By: David Tisdale
Outgoing Mississippi Historical Society President Will Bowlin passes the gavel to Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, who will lead the organization for the next year (submitted photo).
Dr. Rebecca Tuuri, associate professor of history and interim associate dean of The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Honors College, was introduced as president of the Mississippi Historical Society (MHS) at the organization’s annual meeting in February. She will serve in the post through March 7, 2025.
According to the MHS website, the organization has for more than a century provided programs and produced books, maps, brochures, and other materials aimed toward the education of the public. MHS also provides annual grants in support of Mississippi History Day for junior high and senior high school students. Its annual meetings feature distinguished speakers, tours of historic sites, and special events.
“I'm honored to be the president of this dynamic organization that celebrates local and statewide history projects that uplift a more honest historical narrative that can serve as an inspiration to our state and nation,” Dr. Tuuri said.
A member of the USM faculty since 2013, Dr. Tuuri has served the MHS as executive board member since 2018. She is co-director for USM’s Center for the Study of the Gulf South and is a faculty affiliate of the University’s Center for Black Studies and Center for Women’s and Gender Studies with expertise in women in the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. Tuuri has previously served as the Southern regional coordinator for Mississippi History Day - the state level contest for National History Day - which teaches middle and high school students critical thinking, historical research, and writing skills.
Dr. Tuuri is the author of Strategic Sisterhood: The National Council of Negro Women in the Black Freedom Struggle (UNC Press, 2018), which won the 2019 prize for best book in Southern women's history from the Southern Association of Women Historians. She is also the winner of the 2023 Mississippi Humanities Council Humanities Scholar Award and the 2019 USM College of Arts and Sciences Junior Faculty of the Year Award.
Learn more about the MHS. For information about the USM History Program, visit the USM School of Humanities.