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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress
@eafentress.bsky.social
120 followers 210 following 24 posts
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · 2d
Honored to work with Beatrice Alexander’s family to tell how she and 387 others in Holmes County Mississippi ended stalled school integration in the South through their 1969 Supreme Court win
oxfordamerican.bsky.social
Oxford American @oxfordamerican.bsky.social · 3d
“If we don’t tell these stories, we kill the strength of the next generation.”

—Santrece Ross discovers her mother was the lead plaintiff in Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education in this new feature by Ellen Ann Fentress

🔗: https://shorturl.at/nDM6K
A group gathers around a trail marker that is titled "Alexander v. Holmes County." A tree and a small red building stand in the background. A large group of people holding programs stand in front of a trail marker in a stretch of grass that stands in front of trees and a short building.
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · 8d
Mannerly ask & wit at the Texaco in Louisville, Mississippi today
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · 9d
wapo.st/46yCjrd
Democrats are putting money into solidly red Mississippi. Here’s why.
The DNC is investing in low-profile state races there as the South is on track to wield more power in future elections. Will it work?
wapo.st
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · 10d
Golden Triangle see you 6 pm Thursday at the W to talk memory, revising our truths, Mississippi and @johntedge.bsky.social new memoir House of Smoke @friendlycitybooks
Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
mississippitoday.org
Mississippi Today @mississippitoday.org · 15d
‘A good education’ excuse was used to justify avoiding integration

Column: My parents were “good people” and respected “all” people. But not accepting that a teacher was capable of providing a “good education” to me or my brother because that teacher was Black was racism. It still is.
‘A good education’ excuse was used to justify avoiding integration
Column: My parents were “good people” and respected “all” people. But not accepting that a teacher was capable of providing a “good education” to me or my brother because that teacher was Black was racism. It still is.
mississippitoday.org
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · 17d
Join us at History Is Lunch 12 pm Wednesday Oct. 1 at the Two Museums. Rita Watts Boone & I will talk admissionsprojects.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Sep 8
wapo.st/4mP6Fv5
It’s not just Trump. Red states are cracking down on their own blue cities.
In Mississippi, GOP lawmakers expanded the reach of the Capitol Police in Jackson and created a separate judicial system there.
wapo.st
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Sep 5
The shorthand of that white talk about a “good education” New story by @jalvis2.bsky.social

admissionsprojects.com/2025/09/04/w...
We’ve Come a Long Way. Haven’t We?  – Admissions
admissionsprojects.com
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Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
donnerkay.bsky.social
Donna Ladd said what she said. 😘 @donnerkay.bsky.social · Aug 29
Nothing more delightful than media dutifully facilitating a Haley Barbour rehabilitation tour. Read the rest of the story here, by Ellen Ann Fentress, about his #HurricaneKatrina games:

www.mississippifreepress.org/before-missi...
From Haley Barbour’s $570M Port Scheme to Mississippi's TANF Scandal
Then-Gov. Haley Barbour channeled $570 million away from post-Katrina housing assistance into a port, which did not deliver on the “economic development” promised.
www.mississippifreepress.org
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Sep 4
His morale-boosting talk, sure, but also his walk: diverting $570 million in needed housing $ for a touted job-rich port project netting only 1 job per $2.2 million @ashtonpittman.bsky.social

www.mississippifreepress.org/haley-barbours-post-katrina-leadership-remembered-fondly-was-controversial/
Haley Barbour’s Post-Katrina Leadership, Remembered Fondly, Was Controversial
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s leadership after Hurricane Katrina was often controversial despite fond recollections.
www.mississippifreepress.org
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Aug 19
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/b...
The Race to Rescue PBS and NPR Stations
www.nytimes.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Aug 13
Saturday’s the Possumtown Book Fest in Columbus. This lineup! In conversation at 11:15 with Jason McCall, Jaz Brisack, Robert Fieseler & Adam Gussow about their powerful, deeply felt new books. Friendly City Books & Emily Liner are Mississippi powerhouses
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Jul 26
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/u...
A Kennedy Toils in Mississippi, Tracing His Grandfather’s Path
www.nytimes.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Jul 8
“Inculcated into acquiescent ladyhood which backfired” Works for me. Thanks @southrevbooks.bsky.social and Katharine Armbrester southernreviewofbooks.com/2025/07/08/t...
Performative “Southern Ladyhood” in “The Steps We Take”
An interview with journalist and author Ellen Ann Fentress.
southernreviewofbooks.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · May 18
Her eyes, my ambition Thank you @salvationsouth.com & @chuckreece.bsky.social
chuckreece.bsky.social
Chuck Reece @chuckreece.bsky.social · May 18
@eafentress.bsky.social took what, in most writers’ hands, would have been a reflection on an artist’s career and turned it into inspiration for anyone in midlife who is driven to create. Proud to publish this in @salvationsouth.com.
The Power of Blooming Late
Discover Dusti Bongé’s biography and legacy in Ellen Ann Fentress’s essay on Mississippi women artists and creative ambition blooming late.
www.salvationsouth.com
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Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
npr.org
NPR @npr.org · May 12
The church said it's terminating a decades-long partnership with the federal government to help refugees arriving in the U.S., citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa.
Episcopal Church refuses to resettle white Afrikaners, citing moral opposition
The church said it's terminating a decades-long partnership with the federal government to help refugees arriving in the U.S., citing moral opposition to resettling white Afrikaners from South Africa.
www.npr.org
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · May 9
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
New Pope Has Creole Roots in New Orleans
www.nytimes.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · May 9
wapo.st/4malQiB
Gates accuses Musk of ‘killing the world’s poorest children’ with DOGE cuts
The two billionaires have clashed since 2022 over their divergent approaches to philanthropy.
wapo.st
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Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
capitalb.bsky.social
Capital B @capitalb.bsky.social · Apr 30
"Sinners" has made $161 million at the box office, but residents of Clarksdale, Mississippi, where the film is based, are unable to see it because there are no open theaters in town. The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of hosting a screening. capitalbnews.org/clarksdale-r...
‘Sinners’ Is Set in Clarksdale, Where There’s No Theater. Locals Are Asking for a Screening.
The Mississippi Delta town launched a petition in hopes of bringing director Ryan Coogler and his team to the community that helped inspire the hit film.
capitalbnews.org
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Apr 14
Absentee voting in the April 22 runoff for mayor and city council in Jackson takes place at City Hall, not the courthouse. Expect a little wait if the line is as it was when I voted today
eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Apr 11
The Mississippi Humanities Council has been the reason scores of events, projects & festivals happen around the state
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/a...
Canceled Humanities Grants to Help Pay for Trump’s ‘Garden of Heroes’ (Gift Article)
The National Endowment for the Humanities, which supports museums and historical sites, will redirect funds to the president’s planned patriotic sculpture garden.
www.nytimes.com
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Apr 3
Mark your calendar for Tuesday June 3 to celebrate Lauren Rhoades’s wondrous memoir. We make it to adulthood from a perch inside Lauren’s head & heart. She’s bat-mitzvahed & confirmed Catholic on her 90s suburban ride, engaging, heartbreaking, infuriating & wry. Pre-orders open!
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eafentress.bsky.social
Ellen Ann Fentress @eafentress.bsky.social · Mar 19
The audiobook for The Steps We Take is out. Award-nominated Lee Ann Howlett narrates. How cool is it that she previously narrated Little Women and Heidi, a pretty ultimate girl reader two-fer. Spread the word on The Steps We Take on audio @upmississippi.bsky.social
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Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
donnerkay.bsky.social
Donna Ladd said what she said. 😘 @donnerkay.bsky.social · Mar 13
Oh and, perhaps, Anita Lee at the Sun-Herald and her stellar coverage of his scheme as governor to divert low-income Katrina housing funds into a port. Her work is linked in this stellar and rather shocking piece by Ellen Ann Fentress for MFP: www.mississippifreepress.org/before-missi...
From Haley Barbour’s $570M Port Scheme to Mississippi's TANF Scandal
Then-Gov. Haley Barbour channeled $570 million away from post-Katrina housing assistance into a port, which did not deliver on the “economic development” promised.
www.mississippifreepress.org
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Reposted by Ellen Ann Fentress
heatherharrison.bsky.social
Heather Harrison @heatherharrison.bsky.social · Mar 13
@mississippifreepress.org: Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican, says he no longer supports dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. When I asked if he still believed in abolishing the department as he called for in his 1996 book, former RNC chairman Barbour said, “not really.”
Barbour: Restructure Education Department, Don’t Abolish It
As RNC chairman, Haley Barbour once called for the Department of Education to be abolished. Now that it’s happening, he says he’s changed his mind.
www.mississippifreepress.org
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