Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), Archives and Records Services

Description

The Archives and Records Services Division is located in the William F. Winter Building on North Street and in the State Records Center on High Street. The division oversees the state archives and research library, where documents, photographs, census records, audio visual materials, publications, digital materials, and other items are made available, and professional historians and archivists assist with questions relating to all aspects of Mississippi's history, as well as answer telephone and mail inquiries. Archivists also organize, describe, catalog, and preserve the collections, so that they can be made available for research. Volunteers assist archives staff in processing and preserving the collections, and providing the public access to centuries' worth of resources for research related to Mississippi subjects and people, free of charge. The collections span the days of prehistory and Native Americans to the Civil War, the Civil Rights era, and beyond.

In addition, the division oversees records management programs for state agencies and municipal and county governments. Archivists provide training in records management and emergency preparedness, schedule agency records, inventory local government records, and consult with officials about the appropriate management of government records. Volunteers assist government archivists with clerical tasks relating to records committee meetings, workshops, and special grant projects.