After gaining a broad context of the Delta during the first day of the workshop, participants spent their second day exploring the cultural, religious and racial diversity of the people who inhabit this region. Though the demographic composition of the American South is primarily discussed in terms of a black and white dynamic, several less recognized populations have called the Delta home, including Chinese and Jewish peoples. Participants travelled to the neighboring town of Greenville to learn about these communities and hear accounts of their struggles and triumphs through first-hand accounts.
On the way to Greenville, the documentary "Delta Jews" was shown, giving participants introductory knowledge to Jewish presence in towns like Greenville and Cleveland. In the film, some Delta Jews spoke about the intersection of their Southern upbringing and their Jewish heritage, which complicated how their families assimilated into a largely Protestant society. This intersectionality of ethnicity, culture and religion emerged as a theme as participants progressed through the day's activities in Greenville.
Chinese Cemetery
As the bus passed what seemed to be a massive, continuous cemetery, workshop co-director Lee Aylward explained that the plot actually housed four distinct cemeteries: one for whites, one for blacks, one for Chinese and one for the Jewish population. Participants stopped first at the gate of the Chinese cemetery, which was adorned with Cantonese blessings.
Raymond Wong, a Chinese Delta native, gave a tour of the cemetery. He spoke about how the Chinese came to be in this region, discussed some of the struggles the population has faced since its establishment, and also divulged his own experiences growing up as someone authentically Southern and ethnically Chinese.
Taste of the Day
Greenville's Black Cemetery
Greenville's black cemetery is in walking distance from the Chinese cemetery and is marked by a plaque explaining the story of Holt Collier, who is interred there.
The Jewish Temple
Part-museum and part-temple, the Jewish synagogue in Greenville boasts opulent stained glass windows, a magnificent organ and walls of Jewish Deltan memorabilia dating back to the temple's foundation in the 1880s. Participants were treated to a tour of the museum, whose photos and artifacts retain the history of the Jewish population in Greenville up until the present day.
Flood of 1927 Museum
Before arriving in Cleveland for the workshop, participants read the book "Rising Tide" which tells the story of the Flood of 1927 which devastated the Delta and led to the Great Migration of blacks from the area to northern cities like Chicago. Much of the book's setting takes place in Greenville, which stood in the direct path of the flood when the levee broke.
Charles Reagan Wilson
Returning to the Delta State Campus, the workshop continued with a fascinating lecture by Dr. Charles Reagan Wilson, a renowned professor of Southern history and religion.
Dr. Wilson's lecture gave academic nuance to the discussions of the Delta's diverse character that occurred in Greenville earlier that morning.
Bill Abel
The second day of the workshop concluded with a treat. Bill Abel, a talented and self-taught Blues musician who makes his own instruments out of materials like driftwood and cigar boxes, played several samples of Blues rhythms and spoke about the genre's evolution.
Each sample that Abel played sounded subtly different and often employed different instruments. Between songs, Abel explained how the Blues style had shifted, introduced notable figures in the genre's evolution and spoke about what historical events had catalyzed the change. This activity introduced the cultural significance of the Delta's music that the participants will study on the workshop's third day.