Congratulations to our friend, Dr. Bill Ferris

Dr. William Reynolds Ferris, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will receive the Cora Norman Award in recognition of his distinguished career as a scholar and national leader in the humanities. A native of Vicksburg, Ferris is a writer, folklorist, and documentarian who has written or edited ten books about Mississippi culture and history. He was a founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. In 2018 he produced the Grammy Award-winning box set Voices of Mississippi containing his field recordings and documentary films. Ferris is currently the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He served as chairman of the NEH from 1997 to 2001. Jon Parrish Peede, one of Ferris’ former students who served as NEH chairman from 2017 to 2020, will present the Cora Norman award to Ferris.