The Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration invites the community to join us at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Natchez Convention Center, 211 Main St., for a special screening of The Rhythm Club Fire: A Documentary. This cinema event is free and open to the public and will be followed by a panel discussion and question and answer session with the director, Bryan Burch.

The theme of this year’s NLCC is Natchez at 300: A River Runs by It, honoring the history and culture of the Mississippi River and Natchez. This extraordinary film was chosen as our kick-off event because it highlights an often overlooked yet pivotal event in the history of our town.

On April 13, 1940, 700 people gathered at the Rhythm Club for a dance at 1 St. Catherine St. Before the evening was over, 209 people lost their lives in what was, to that date, the deadliest night club fire in U.S. history. The impact on the community was immediately evident. Very few people in the area were left untouched by the tragedy—losing family, friends and loved ones in an instant.

Today the site is marked by the Rhythm Nightclub Onsite Memorial Museum, and the tragic loss from the fire still lives in the memories of many in our community. Those community members are featured in this documentary, telling the story in their words and sharing their memories with the world.

This moving film is only the first in a series of events spotlighting the history and culture of our community and celebrating the people who are part of the enduring legacy of Natchez. At 9 a.m. Friday, Bill Ferris will present “The Mississippi River: Memory and Sense of Place” followed by the presentation of the Thad Cochran Humanities Award to Mrs. Carolyn Vance Smith for her exemplary service to promotion of the humanities in Mississippi. The rest of the day will be devoted to the history of Natchez from the Colonial Era to the African-American experience, featuring G. Douglas Inglis, Christopher Morris, Jim Wiggins, Lynette Tanner and Dennis Harried.

Saturday begins at 9:00 a.m. with “The 1927 Flood: A Conversation with John M. Barry”, New York Times best-selling author of Rising Tide. Afterward, Jerry Mitchell and Suzanne Marrs will be honored with the Richard Wright Award for Literary Excellence, and Bryan Burch will receive the Tricentennial Award for Documentary Filmmaking. Rounding out the day will be a must-see for any aspiring author — a panel discussion entitled “Everybody has a Story: How to Get it Told.” All programming at the Convention Center is free and open to the public, thanks to partnership with Copiah Lincoln Community College the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Pulitzer Centennial Program, the City of Natchez, Adams County Mississippi, and hundreds of private donors.

For more information, detailed agenda, or information on ticketed events, please visit our website at www.colin.edu, email nlcc@colin.edu, or call 601-446-1274.

 

Brett Brinegar is an instructor of history at the Natchez campus of Copiah-Lincoln Community College and Co-Chairman of the Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration.