The “Our American Story” initiative will stop in the city this week as part of its cross-country tour collecting testimonials on what it means to be an American.
Part of the America250 initiative celebrating the nation’s semiquincentennial, the America250 Airstream trailer will be parked in the lawn of the Tennessee Williams Home and Welcome Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, inviting the public to take photos and record their own American story.
“We’ve taken an Airstream Trailer and we’ve converted it into a studio,” Nancy Carpenter, executive director for the Columbus Cultural Heritage Foundation and development director for America250 Mississippi, told the city council during its Tuesday meeting at the Municipal Complex.
Walk-up kiosks will be available for any citizen to record their unique American story, which will be archived with portions preserved at the Library of Congress. Some will be invited into the Airstream studio for conversations with trained interviewers, Carpenter said.
“The wonderful thing is you have an opportunity to share what America really means to you,” Carpenter said. “This will be archived, so your children and grandchildren for years to come can go to the archives in Washington, D.C., enter your name and see (what you said).”
Carpenter said Mississippi is the fifth state the Airstream will visit, with a planned stop Thursday at the Grammy Museum in Cleveland.
After leaving Columbus, it will travel Saturday to the state fair and the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson.
“We’re in really good company,” Carpenter told the council. “I’m thrilled we are able to bring the studio here.”
Mayor Stephen Jones complimented Carpenter’s work with America250 Mississippi.
“I know you had a lot to do with them stopping in Columbus,” he said. “So thank you for all you do.”
In other business, the council:
■ approved an ordinance establishing a permitting process for short-term rentals;
■ agreed to pay $1,000 to Kaleena Richardson, broker for Legacy Real Estate Group, to list the city-owned parking lot at Sixth Street South and College Street (beside Columbus First Methodist Church) for sale;
■ approved partnering with Mississippi State University’s Cobb Institute of Archaeology to use remote sensing equipment to identify and mark graves at Sandfield Cemetery at no cost to the city;
■ approved vacating unimproved or unfinished portions of First, Eighth, Ninth and Cedar streets, all surrounded by private property near Carrier Lodge, at the request of property owner Incandescent LLC; and
■ adopted a dress code for all city employees, including a business casual requirement for office staff, effective Nov. 1.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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