The Southern Cultural Heritage Foundation will host a free event 6 p.m. Monday in the Southern Cultural Heritage Center Convent Chapel.

“Dr. Edgar Smith will discuss the Mississippi Blues Commission and how we can help promote and support the blues,” executive director for the SCHF, Stacey Massey said.

Smith, who was appointed by the governor to serve on the Mississippi Blues Commission, is one of 18 commissioners representing major organizations and geographic/political regions supporting Blues initiatives throughout the state.

Smith graduated from Bowman High School in Vicksburg. He received a B.S. from Tougaloo College and M.S. and Ph.D. from Purdue University.

“Dr. Smith has had a very impressive career in biochemistry. His research was in the areas of cancer biochemistry and sickle cell anemia, and his results have been published in several professional journals,” Massey said.

Smith is also a former member of the board of directors of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.

In addition to discussing the importance of supporting the blues in Mississippi, Smith will also share information about the Blues Musicians Benevolent Fund, which was established in 2010.

This fund was designed to financially aid the musicians who contributed to the history of blues. Many of the most important historical sites associated with the blues are located in Mississippi, and the state’s Blues Trail, established in 2005, has to date erected nearly 200 markers documenting this cultural significance, Smith said.

“If you actually experience going around to some of these communities you see that there are a number of these musicians who are really in bad shape financially, and we decided that we needed to do something in Mississippi somewhat similar to what’s done in Memphis with the Blues Foundation,” he said.

“We felt that Mississippi, being the ‘home of the blues’ should have something of that nature to support its musicians,” Smith said.

The Blues Musicians Benevolent Fund is supported primarily by the sale of Mississippi Blues Trail license plates, a $10,000 yearly gift from the Mississippi Blues Marathon, and private donations, he said.