Dr. Max Grivno, associate professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi, is returning to Natchez to talk about diplomacy in the early years of the city’s history.

Grivno will present his lecture, “Natchez Diplomacy, 1540-1730,” at the Tuesday, March 26 meeting of the Natchez Historical Society at 108 S. Commerce St. The program is free to the public.

It will begin with a social at 5:30 p.m. and the presentation at 6 p.m.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to return to Natchez and to speak to the historical society,” said Grivno. “The previous decade has seen an outpouring of work focused on the Natchez nation — work that has changed how we understand these people and their place in the history of the Lower Mississippi River Valley.  I look forward to sharing some of those findings with the society.” 

Grivno is an associate professor of History at the University of Southern Mississippi and editor of The Southern Quarterly.

Specifically, he will speak about Native American diplomacy in the colonial period in Natchez.

 Alan Wolf, the director of the society and its program chair, explained that Dr. Grivno’s presentation will examine how the Natchez wrestled with notable and critical changes diplomatically.

“He will look at Natchez diplomacy with other native peoples and the Natchez attempts to secure alliances with the encroaching European empires, while all the while attempting to maintain their own economic and political independence,” he said.

 Grivno has spoken for the society in the past.

For example, in November 2022, he gave a lecture on the topic, “Hernando De Soto and the First European Contact with the Mississippi Civilization of the Lower Mississippi Valley.”

It was well received.

The March 26 program is funded in part by a grant from the Mississippi Humanities Council, through funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

For more information, visit natchezhistoricalsociety.org or call 601-492-3004. Emails may be sent to info@natchezhistoricalsociety.org