The summer after he was sworn in as president, Jimmy Carter flew to Mississippi, that deepest of Deep South states, and ...

These Deep South states were not the first to pass major literacy laws. Much of Mississippi’s legislation was based on a 2002 law in Florida that saw the Sunshine State achieve some of the country’s ...

But two years ago I felt my stance on the Deep South state starting to shift. It was spurred by a press release that came across my desk and detailed the opening of a new kind of museum.

Cotton transformed the United States, making fertile land in the Deep South, from Georgia to Texas, extraordinarily valuable. Growing more cotton meant an increased demand for slaves. Slaves in ...