Ole Miss Internship Brings Soul Force Into Digital Age

Through a new internship with the Burns-Belfry Museum and Multicultural Center, doctoral student Gabbie Bowden digitized more than two decades of Soul Force, a community newsletter that began chronicling weddings, church events, political commentary and everyday life in Freedmen Town in the early 1970s.

The project, supported by M Partner and the Department of English, preserves a vital record of Black families and community voices for future generations.

"There was a very tangible feeling of accomplishment helping put this information out to the digital world," said Bowden, of Gulfport.

"These editions are very journalistic in terms of their inclusion of comments on national, local and international events, and they also included baby announcements and educational materials that clearly promoted community among its readers."

Built in 1910, the Burns-Belfry building was once Burns Methodist Episcopal Church, organized by freed African Americans who settled in the area known as Freedmen Town after the Civil War. The Oxford Development Association, a nonprofit founded to improve education in the Black community, began there in 1970 and launched Soul Force as its monthly newsletter.

This summer, Bowden spent more than 180 hours meticulously scanning and cataloging more than 20 years of Soul Force's monthly issues from the museum's collection. The experience deepened her appreciation for the power of community storytelling, the responsibility of preserving it and the importance of making record accessible, Bowden said.

"Whether you're a researcher interested in 20th century local publishing, a community organization or someone looking for details about family members involved in the Oxford Development Association, this project can help a lot people."

Ole Miss and its students have a history of collaborating on Burns-Belfry projects, helping in areas museum staff identified.

The museum operates with a staff of volunteers and Sheila Baker Howard, board chair at the historic center, said the positive impact of this collaboration between the university and museum is immeasurable.

While archiving decades of newsletters, Bowden was intrigued when she found a multi-year series that included academic lessons on Black history in America, starting from the 1600s.

"They were providing access to academic text and historical analysis, disseminating information – not just opinions or local stories – but educating and informing the community," Bowden said.

Two faculty leaders who helped create the internship believe the opportunity reflects how connecting Ole Miss students with public-facing scholarship can benefit communities.

"Our discipline's expertise in literary and cultural studies lines up nicely with this kind of archival research," said Jason Solinger, associate professor of English and director of graduate studies.

"The best work in literary studies and in the humanities has a public-facing component. We see this as an opportunity for English graduate students to assist the local community in preserving and making available a body of writing that is a window into Oxford's rich cultural history."

Rich Purcell, the Hubert H. McAlexander Chair in English and director of the cinema studies minor, noted that landing jobs in the academy after graduation can feel like competing for a spot on a professional sports team, but Bowden's summer internship adds a competitive edge and transferable skills.

"Hands-on projects like this give our students transferable skills in archiving, digital humanities and community partnership," Purcell said. "Whether they pursue academic roles or other professions, they leave Ole Miss with experience that connects scholarship to service."

Laura Martin, associate director of the Grisham-McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement and M Partner director, emphasized the university's role in building sustainable, reciprocal partnerships.

"This new partnership between the Department of English and the Burns-Belfry has deepened M Partner's work in Oxford, and promises to have a lasting impact," she said. "The Soul Force project is connected to ongoing oral history and website development initiatives, and we are grateful to our partners at the Belfry for trusting us with these powerful stories."

Transported through time, the archive will "provide a microscopic lens of the broader American picture of what was happening within the '70s, '80s and '90s," Bowden said.

The digital archive is still taking shape as the museum tracks down missing editions, mostly from the '70s, Howard said. She recently met began meetings with a small group of Ole Miss law students and Marie Saliba Cope, director of the Transactional Law Clinic and co-director of the Business Law Institute, as legal consultants before sharing the content online.

"It's exciting to think about someone finding their grandparent's name in an announcement, or researchers finding a new way to understand Black community life in Oxford," Bowden said.

"We lit the fire. Now, we need to keep kindling it with more outside opportunities to empower the community and students."

The summer internship was funded through the Department of English, Grisham-McLean Institute and Purcell's endowed chair fund.

To make a donation or for more information about place-based partnerships, contact Laura Martin at lemartin@olemiss.edu.

Top: A 1997 issue of Soul Force, a newsletter published by the Oxford Development Association, is among the many editions being digitized through a UM partnership with the Burns-Belfry Museum and Multicultural Center. The project preserves decades of stories, photographs and community history that document Black life in Oxford’s Freedmen Town neighborhood. Photo by Hunt Mercier/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services