Northwest to Offer Eudora Welty Study and Tour Class for Educators

Dr. Lee Emling Harding, courtesy of NWCC

The division of Continuing Education at Northwest Mississippi Community College is offering an Author Study and Tour featuring the works of Mississippi Author Eudora Welty. “Educators can add zing to their English, Mississippi studies or history classes by providing inside knowledge of our state’s humblest Pulitzer Prize–winning author, Eudora Welty, as gathered from stories she wrote, photographs she took while traveling the state, and people she knew,” said Maggie Moran, director of Learning Resources, who will co-lead the class.

The class will meet on Saturdays, Feb. 27 and March 19 from 9 a.m.- noon at the R.C. Pugh Library on the Senatobia campus and will take a tour of Jackson on Saturday, April 9 from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The cost of the course is $75 and the deadline to register is January 25. Participants can earn 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the class.

In two short meetings and one trip, the class will delve into the life of Welty. “You may find yourself biking through the Capitol halls on your way to the library. When no one is looking, you might slip behind a door to hear the grown ups chat. Instead of working on press releases for the Works Progress Administration, you might be looking through a camera lens to snap fellow Mississippians during the Depression. Eventually, you will find yourself daydreaming in front of a typewriter in a small room on the top floor of a Tudor Revival home at 1119 Pinehurst Street,” Moran said.

Participants will be expected to read two books and nine short stories prior to the meeting dates, then discuss readings as a group with emphasis on incorporating information into future classroom discussions.

While in Jackson, participants will tour the Eudora Welty House and Garden, cross the street to see the museum, look over her photography at the William F. Winter Archives and History Building and eat at the famous writer’s hangout, Hal and Mal’s restaurant.

Dr. Lee Emling Harding has agreed to lead the discussions and the tour of the home and garden where she is currently volunteering. She was a professor of English at Mississippi College (MC) for 36 years. “Dr. Harding was well-thought of here at MC both as a person and as a ‘teacher’, said Kathleen Hutchison, director of Leland Speed Library. Her credentials speak of a love of Mississippi and its writers. She obtained her B.A and M.A. from MC and her Ph.D. from the University of Southern Mississippi.

In 1983, her dissertation titled, “A Strategy for Living: Selected Autobiographical Writing by Nineteenth Century Mississippi Women” spoke of her passion for local writers. As professor emeritus from Mississippi College, Dr. Harding was honored as a Distinguished Alumna for the MC English Department in the school year 2011-12 and is a current MC Humanities Lecturer. She has written critical articles and book reviews on Eudora Welty, James Lane Allen, Rebecca Hill, Beth Henley, along with other Southern writers. She also coedited a book for the Twain series titled Critical Essays on Eudora Welty.

For more information on the class contact Moran at 662-562-3277 or email mmoran@northwestms.edu. To register for the class, contact Pam Wooten, coordinator of Continuing Education by calling 662-562-3349 or email pwooten@northwestms.edu.

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