This photograph entitled “Mississippi River Bridge,” by Emmett L. King, is included in the Picturing America, Reflecting Mississippi project. “Mississippi River Bridge” shows the bridge at Vicksburg, dedicated in May 1930, and christened with bottles of water taken from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans because the bridge served as the link between coasts, by way of U.S. Highway 80. It became known as the “Old Vicksburg Bridge” after the construction of a four lane bridge for traffic on U.S. Interstate 20 in 1973.
Picturing America was developed by the National Endowment for the Humanities as a resource for educators and to help a new generation connect to American history through art. Reflecting Mississippi is comprised of companion art works (from the MDAH collection) to the NEH prints. The 40 Picturing America prints and 6 Reflecting Mississippi prints are available for loan. For information about scheduling a speaker and/or borrowing the prints, please contact David Morgan, Mississippi Humanities Council, at 601-432-6752 or by email.
For general information, lesson plans, and teaching materials please visit http://picturingamerica.neh.gov. The 16 Mississippi images, along with teaching activities are available for electronic display and distribution at http://www.mdah.ms.gov/reflecting-ms.zip.
This exhibit is sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Mississippi Library Commission, and the Mississippi Arts Commission with additional funding by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.