Digital Snapshots
Churches - Survey Photograph Collection
This “Digital Snapshot” Exhibit features photographs from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) Churches - Survey Photograph digitized collection.
The collection consists of thirty-nine exterior-view photographs of buildings — thirty-eight of which are of churches and one is a courthouse — from urban to rural contexts. Located across the state, the photographs were taken in the 1930s by the Works Progress (or Projects) Administration. Towns and cities represented in the collection include Belzoni, Brandon, Canton, Charleston, Church Hill, Drew, Grenada, Greenwood, Jackson, Natchez, Raymond, Ruleville, Water Valley, and Winona; as well as rural churches in Claiborne and DeSoto counties. This exhibit focuses on churches from the collection that are no longer in existence due to natural phenomena or congregation expansion, or that underwent dramatic renovations, as a way to demonstrate the use of photography in historic preservation and the role of religion in Mississippi history.
Funding for this Digital Snapshot Exhibit was provided by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History through a Lilly Endowment grant.
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Churches Survey History
Read a contextual essay and access secondary sources.
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Snapshot Exhibit
Browse a "Snapshot" of photographs from the full Churches Survey collection.
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Educator Resources
Access K-12 activities based on images in this Snapshot.
Browse Sample Churches - Survey Photographs By Location
Cite images according to the following structure:
Original Creator, “Title,” Unique Resource Identifier, Series Number and Title, Archival Repository, image URL.
Example:
Works Progress Administration, “WPA Churches Survey, Item 23; ca. 1930s,” 120173-photo-1, PI/SF/CH/1986.0033: Churches - Survey Photograph Collection, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, www.dh-mdah.org/churches-survey-magnolia-port-gibson.
Suggested bibliographic citation format for items in this exhibit: