Join us for a reception and talk by Dr. Charles Dollar who will speak on his new book Mississippi Heroes: White Champions of Racial Justice, 1954 –1974. 

Mississippi Heroes shines a light on a pivotal period in American civil rights history through the life stories of fifty-nine White Mississippians who dared to stand up and act out their commitment to equality and racial justice. Their sustained public visibility as champions of economic, educational, and political equality and justice for Black Mississippians put them in direct conflict with friends and family members. church members, business associates, and organizations who were unyielding advocates of White supremacy.

Based upon scholarly research in more than 25 archival repositories and manuscript collections; 60 interviews with heroes, family members and personal friends; multiple dissertations, theses and peer-reviewed scholarly articles; and more than 100 scholarly works on Mississippi history in the 1950s and 1960s, this tome details how between 1954 and 1974, ordinary White Mississippians went against the grain of many of their peers in supporting Black Mississippians to gain their legal, political, economic and social rights as American citizens, helping turn a page on race relations in the state. Collectively, their courage inspired other White Mississippians to break their public silence about racial injustice and inequality and pushed conservative White Mississippians to think seriously about political, social, and economic inequities besetting Black Mississippians that went beyond the reach of the federal laws and regulations that ended segregation.

About Charles Dollar:

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Dollar earned his Bachelor of Arts from Union University before leaving for the University of Kentucky where he earned an MA and a PhD in American history. He became interested in the emerging quantitative historical analysis methodology which he continued to research after joining the History Faculty at Oklahoma State University.

Attracting the attention of the then archivist of the United States, Dollar helped establish the electronic records preservation program of the National Archives in the 1970s. He had a major leadership role in early efforts of the Society of American Archivists and the International Council on Archives to address the challenges of electronic records.

His books on The Impact of Information Technology on Archives Theory and Practice (1993) and Authentic Electronic Records: Strategies for Long Term Access (1997) advanced the profession's understanding of the challenges of digital preservation. In 1994, Dollar joined the Graduate Faculty of the School of Library, Information, and Archival Studies at the University of British Columbia, where he taught in the Archival Studies Program.

In 2005 he authored an international standard, ISO 18492, Long Term Preservation of Electronic Document-Based Information and received the Emmett Leahy Award, which recognizes an individual whose contributions and outstanding accomplishments have had a major impact on the records and information management profession. From 2006 to 2016 Dollar consulted on electronic records management and preservation strategies for corporate and not-for-profit clients, and library and archival institutions. He co-authored the Digital Preservation Capability Maturity Model (DPCMM) which has been used by the US Council of State Archivists since 2012 and more than 150 organizations. Since retiring he has continued historical research and writing. Dollar lives in Sparks, Nevada.