Camp Kudzu: Buildings of a Better World

Camp Kudzu is back this summer, contemplating this year's Summer Library Program theme, Build a Better World. Mississippi boasts a slew of fine architectural sites, so MLC staff "visited" some of the more fascinating buildings in Jackson on a whirlwind tour.

Oohs and aahs at the Greyhound Bus Station

The Greyhound Bus Station in Jackson was designed by William Strudwick Arrasmith in the Art Moderne style and built around 1938. (1) In 1961, the station was the site of arrests of Freedom Riders, who had ridden buses to Jackson to bring attention to the fact that Supreme Court ruling in Boynton v. Virginia was being ignored and that segregation on interstate transportation was still occurring. (2) The bus station is a site on the Mississippi Freedom Trail. You can read more about the Freedom Riders here and here.

Look up in the sky! What's that above Miss Eudora's house?

We've written about the Eudora Welty House and Garden before. This Tudor Revival style home was designed by Wyatt C. Hedrick and completed in 1925. (3) It is a National Historic Landmark and sits across the street from historic Belhaven University. Pulitzer prize winning author Eudora Welty lived here from the age of 16 until her death at age 92. The home and garden are open to the public; check here for information about planning a visit.

Caution: The Mississippi State Capitol may
cause you to inadvertently give someone bunny ears.

This building, commonly referred to as the "New" Mississippi State Capitol, was designed by Theodore Link and completed in 1903. (4) (The "Old" State Capitol served in that capacity from 1833 to 1903. See? Much older!) It is in the Beaux-Arts style and was designated as a National Historic Landmark just last year.

If we've ignited a desire to learn more about buildings and Mississippi architecture, head to your local public library for books like The Architecture of William Nichols: Building the Antebellum South in North Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi and Lost Mansions of Mississippi. Want to inspire your youngster with amazing buildings? Try Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building and Round Buildings, Square Buildings, and Buildings that Wiggle Like a Fish.

Registration for the summer library program is in full swing in public libraries across Mississippi, so be sure to head to your local library to sign up. Until our next Camp Kudzu installment, happy reading!

(1) https://misspreservation.com/2012/04/17/greyhound-bus-terminal-clarksdale/ 
(2) http://www.core-online.org/History/freedom%20rides.htm 
(3) https://eudorawelty.org/the-house/ 
(4) https://mississippitoday.org/2017/05/04/capitol-honored-as-national-historic-landmark/