The Mississippi State University Libraries is bringing home one of the university's distinguished alumni for a lecture and book signing on April 4.
U.S. Civil War military historian and MSU alumnus Timothy B. Smith will focus on his latest book, Bayou Battles for Vicksburg: The Swamp and River Expeditions, January 1-April 30, 1863, during the evening event which is free and open to the public. The book is Smith’s fourth in his five-volume history of the Vicksburg Campaign.
Susannah J. Ural, the Frank & Virginia Williams Chair for Abraham Lincoln & Civil War Studies at MSU, said they are excited to welcome Smith to campus.
“Dr. Smith is an award-winning historian of the U.S. Civil War and a recognized authority on the military history of the western theater of operations (which includes campaigns from Atlanta to the Mississippi River),” Ural said. “He’s always a hit with audiences, whether on the battlefield tours or the lecture circuit, and we’re excited for this opportunity to host him at MSU.”
The lecture is hosted by the Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana and the Ulysses S. Grant Presidential Library, along with the MSU Libraries, and will begin at 6:00 p.m. in the John Grisham Room on the third floor of Mitchell Memorial Library.
“It’s natural for MSU's two premier Civil War collections to collaborate on events like these,” Ural said. “This is especially true for an event focused on the Vicksburg Campaign, which was central to Ulysses S. Grant's career and to his relationship with President Abraham Lincoln.”
Dr. Anne Marshall, Executive Director of the Grant Presidential Library, agrees.
“We are partnering in order to bring related scholarly content to the public,” Marshall added.
Organizers scheduled the event for Thursday evening, allowing community members to attend, Ural said. The campus gates will be raised at 5 p.m. for easier parking.
“We hope to fill the Grisham Room with our university and regional supporters on Thursday evening, and that includes our students,” Ural said. “Beyond what they can learn from this celebrated historian, I think they’ll be excited to hear from a fellow Bulldog and MSU alumnus.”
For more information on the Williams Collection of Lincolnian, please visit our website, https://www.library.msstate.edu/williamscollection. For more information on the Grant Presidential Library, please visit our website here, https://www.usgrantlibrary.org/.
