Black Folklore from the Mississippi Delta to Yale University

Meet Bill Ferris, one of the newest members of The MAX Hall of Fame.

The conversation will begin with four short documentaries on blues, gospel, and folk art made by Ferris in the 1970s while teaching African American Studies at Yale University.

The Early Films of William Ferris are powerful reminders of how Mississippi Black oral traditions of music, stories, and art are an enduring part of American culture.

In raw accounts, B.B. King, preachers, inmates, quiltmakers, and gospel singers describe their lives, capturing worlds 50 years ago central to our understanding of Mississippi and the human experience—then and now.

Stay afterward to meet the legend and buy copies of his photography books, which capture Mississippi like no one else.

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• Event Start Time: 10:00 am
• Event End Time: 12:00 pm
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• Name of Event Venue or Location: The MAX
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• Event Website: https://www.msarts.org/events/black-folklore-from-the-mississippi-delta-to-yale-university/?occurrence=2025-10-25
• Event Contact Name: Jeremy Sollie
• Event Contact Email: jeremy@msarts.org
• Event Contact Phone: 601-581-1550
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