William R. Ferris is the Joel R. Williamson Eminent Professor of History Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the senior associate director emeritus of its Center for the Study of the American South. The former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1997-2001), Ferris has written or edited ten books, created fifteen documentary films, and his most recent work Voices of Mississippi won two Grammy Awards for Best Liner Notes and for Best Historical Album in 2019. Eudora Welty (1909-2001) was author of many novels and story collections, including The Optimist's Daughter (winner of the Pulitzer Prize), Losing Battles, The Ponder Heart, The Robber Bridegroom, and A Curtain of Green and Other Stories, as well as collections of her photographic work-Photographs, Country Churchyards, and One Time, One Place: Mississippi in the Depression: A Snapshot Album, all published by University Press of Mississippi.