The June 9 piece on the Natchez History Minute receiving a regional award from the National Park Service was most interesting and appreciated by those who know how much effort and passion went onto its daily production. Jeff Mansell, the Natchez National Historical Park historian, deserves all the kudos and honor that we, as a community, can bestow on him. Whatever the amount of time he says it took to produce the 365 “minutes” of Natchez history, I say double it.

When former Mayor Butch Brown asked a few of us to begin “pouring the cement” in 2014 for a 2016 Tricentennial celebration of the founding of Natchez, he envisioned “3C” events occurring every day of that year. That was a tall order. This charge became a reality when Jeff Mansell proposed to produce, direct, film and document an endeavor called, “The Natchez History Minute.” He recalled watching Walter Cronkite’s evening news program on the Jackson CBS station, with his grandfather, that  showed a “history event” that was relevant to our country’s upcoming 1976 celebration of 200 years of independence from the British Empire. That’s the origin of our 365 stories of Natchez since 1716. Thank you Jeff Mansell, and the Natchez National Historical Park, for making our Tricentennial year so special and memorable for residents our city and county, our state, our nation and for those thousands who visited us from abroad.
Mike Gemmell

Natchez resident