The city’s Museums Division will host an Aug. 28 program, “An Evening with Dr. James Patterson Smith,” historian and author of the new book “Hurricane Katrina: The Mississippi Story” as part of the city’s two days of programs to observe the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina,
Dr. Smith will discuss the book and his research during this public program at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the Biloxi Visitors Center, 1050 Beach Blvd.
“We are pleased that Dr. Smith will be sharing his insights about ‘Hurricane Katrina: The Mississippi Story,’ which already is being called the definitive Mississippi description of the greatest natural disaster in American history,” said Bill Raymond, Biloxi Historic Administrator.
Dr. Smith is a professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi, Gulf Coast campus and is co-author of Dr. Gilbert R. Mason Sr.’s “Beaches, Blood, and Ballots: A Black Doctor’s Civil Rights Struggle” (University Press of Mississippi).
Books will be available for purchase and autograph that evening, and also will be available in the gift shop during the Visitors Center’s regular hours, for $35 plus tax. For more information call the museums office at (228) 435-6244 or email braymond@biloxi.ms.us.
Said Raymond of the Aug. 28 program: “The museums division focuses not only on preserving historic structures, but also on preserving and promoting the history of our people and the events that shaped our community. Dr. Smith’s book recounts what we on the Mississippi Gulf Coast experienced during and after Katrina. It is an important resource that documents a watershed event in the city’s history.”
The city will conduct its annual Katrina memorial observance on Aug. 29 at 8 a.m. on the Town Green. Additionally, “Katrina & Biloxi,” the city’s award-winning documentary, will air on Cable 13 in Biloxi at 10:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 29.
