To help mark 30 years of examining, reflecting upon and celebrating Southern culture, Michelle Hyver Oakes has pledged $30,000 to the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
“It’s important to financially support the organizations we believe in, and I believe in the center,” said Oakes, a New Orleans native who was recently named chair of the center’s advisory committee. “I hope my commitment will be the first of many new gifts to the center made by its friends and supporters. Our collective donations will enable its continued vitality and growth.”
Private gifts help fund scholarships and documentary photography exhibitions, support publications such as The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, establish the Southern Media Archive, offer the weekly brown bag lunch and lecture series and host annual conferences.
“Friends of the center nurture and sustain it,” said Ted Ownby, CSSC interim director. “We are so grateful to Michelle for this generous gift. With these funds, we aim to improve financial support for graduate students and create a research fund for center faculty.”