The Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister House Foundation Board is hosting a two-day public symposium titled “Shaping the Cultural Environment … A Window on the World,” on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25, honoring the life and legacy of educator Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister.

Oct. 24 happens to be McAllister’s 125th birthday.

The symposium will be held at the Hinds Community College Vicksburg campus and celebrates her commitment to “the life of the mind” and excellence within and beyond the college classroom. The event also provides an informative and insightful overview of her life and work in higher education through keynote addresses and panel discussions. The symposium captures the essence of Dr. McAllister as displayed in a featured documentary by David Rae Morris, which honors her legacy — “My Mind to Me a Kingdom Is”.

Vicksburg resident Bettye J. Gardner, Ph.D., serves as president of the Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister House Foundation, Inc.

“The impetus of the symposium was to focus on McAllister’s whole approach to teaching, training teachers, etc.,” Gardner said. “McAllister brought new ideas for that period that are important for people to know about. The presenters that we have coming are all people who not only may be teaching themselves in higher education but are also working with students, with multi-ethnic students, and the approach to that. I think that it is important to see those connections which many of (the presenters) will be making in terms of what McAllister did and how she changed higher education in that 50-year period of the 20th century from the late 1920’s when she got her Ph.D. until the 60’s and early 70’s when she sort of retired for the final time from Jackson State.”

The symposium will examine the cultural impact of Dr. McAllister’s scholarly contributions, emphasizing her role in advancing the intellectual discourse on Black education and the broader implications of her work within academic and cultural spheres.

The presenters will explore how Dr. McAllister’s intellectual legacy continues to shape contemporary educational practices and philosophies, highlighting strategies for preserving and advancing her vision of academic excellence and social justice. The impact of her pioneering work continues today in “challenging minds and changing lives.”

The symposium will feature three keynote addresses and two panel sessions on Dr. McAllister’s pedagogical approaches to Black education, and her teaching legacy through the perspectives of her former students, an award-winning public-school teacher, and humanities scholars. These nationally known scholars engaged in the training of Black teachers and the teaching of diverse students will also explore the various ways in which Dr. McAllister’s work intersects with their work today.

Schedule of Events: Thursday, Oct. 24

• Dr. Ralph Eubanks of the University of Mississippi, author of “A Place Like Mississippi” (2021), will officially launch the opening of the two-day symposium at 10:15 a.m. with his keynote address “Unveiling the Intellectual Odyssey of Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister.”
• Dr. Maryemma Graham of the University of Kansas, author of “The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker Alexander” (2022) will deliver a second keynote address at 2 p.m. She will focus on the Arts, Humanities and the Intellectual Life of Dr. McAllister.
• The panel discussion is titled “Nurturing the Life of the Mind: Pedagogical Approaches in Black Education,” and features Dr. Phelton Moss, Senior Professorial Lecturer of Education Policy and Leadership at American University. While at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, he served as a School Leadership Consultant for a Kellogg Foundation funded grant to set up the first state run residency program to address teacher shortage and diversity hiring. Moss also served as a consultant with the Mississippi Department of Education.
  Dr. Joi A. Spencer, Dean of the School of Education at University of California, Riverside, will also be featured. She is the author of “Anti-Black Racism at School: Creating Affirming Educational Spaces for African American Students,” published by Teachers College Press (Fall 2022). Her work centers on educational equity in higher and K-12 education and investigates the mathematics learning opportunities of African American and other minority youth. Ms. Kaynetra Tucker, an American History teacher and 2023 Teacher of the Year at Vicksburg High School, is the third featured speaker. Ms. Tucker will demonstrate a hands-on, project-based learning activity that introduces Dr. McAllister to her students.
• At 3:45 p.m., there will be a riding tour of Dr. McAllister’s home, the Vicksburg National Military Park African American Monument, and other Black historic sites in Vicksburg.
• At 6:30 p.m., Mr. David Rae Morris will screen “My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is,” Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister’s Documentary Film, at the Strand Theatre, 717 Clay St.

Schedule of Events: Friday, Oct. 25

• 9:30 a.m. – The third and final keynote address will be delivered by Dr. Jarvis Givens of Harvard University. Dr. Givens is author of “Fugitive Pedagogy: Carter G. Woodson” and “The Art of Black Teaching” (2021); “School Clothes: A Collective Memoir of Black Student Witness” (2023); and he has launched The Black Teacher Archive. He will speak on the cultural significance of Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister’s Scholarship.
• The panel discussion is titled “Legacy and Continuity: Challenging Minds, Changing Lives — Sustaining Dr. McAllister’s Vision in Contemporary Education,” and will feature Dr. Deidre Wheaton, Interim Director, School of Lifelong Learning, Jackson State University. Wheaton focuses her research on equity and access to high quality educational experiences for all students and non-traditional adult learners, and members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
  Dr. Doris Ginn, recently retired professor of English at Jackson State University and Dr. Ivory Phillips, former Chair, Department of Social Sciences and Dean, College of Education and Human Development at Jackson State University, will also be featured and are former students of Dr. McAllister. They bring a unique perspective to Dr. McAllister’s role at Jackson State University and her impact on their teaching careers. Mr. David Rae Morris, photographer/filmmaker, will also provide an excerpt of “My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is,” Dr. Jane Ellen McAllister’s Documentary Film.

The symposium is funded by the Mississippi Humanities Council, in partnership with Dr. Robert Luckett, Director of the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University; Mr. Michael Morris, director of Two Mississippi Museums; and the Hinds Community College, Vicksburg Campus.

For inquiries about the Dr. Jane McAllister Symposium, please call 885-933-5529, Ext. 2.