Morning Presenters

Sledge Taylor, From a Mule to a Deere: High Tech Agriculture in the Mississippi Delta 
Mr. William Sledge Taylor, III has witnessed the remarkable development of high tech machines to cultivate and harvest crops that took immense manpower and time in days past. He owns and personally oversees Buckeye Farms, a large farm in the Como, Mississippi area where he raises fine southern crops - cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat, timber and cattle. Mr. Taylor will describe the major technological and sociological changes in farming which have helped to make the Delta the most fertile and productive area in the country.

Dr. Douglas Cupples, The Vicksburg Campaign
Dr. Douglas W. Cupples is an adjunct professor of history/political science at Christian Brothers University. He holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science/international relations and a doctorate in history/political science. His doctoral dissertation focused on the role of the City of Memphis and Memphians during the Civil War. In 2009, he was a participant in the United States Army War College National Security Seminar. His presentation focuses on the campaign by Federal forces to capture the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863 and Confederate efforts to prevent it. The campaign included extensive amphibious operations by Naval and land forces. The Delta, as a significant geographical feature, was a factor which both sides had to consider.

Jimmy Ogle, Ten Little-Known Facts about the Delta
Mr. Ogle is an acknowledged authority on the minutia of Memphis. He is the seventh chairman of the Shelby County Historical Commission and Community Engagement Manager for the Riverfront Development Corporation. Well-known for his story-telling style during walking tours, he is a master at articulating Memphis history with equal parts edification and deprecation. This ten-minute session promises to be stocked full of new knowledge for Delta conference goers.

Beatrice Chauvin, The Magnetic Power of the Delta for French Blues Lovers
Ms. Beatrice Chauvin is a French magazine photographer and musician. Her family briefly lived in Maryland when she was a toddler. She studied at La Sorbonne, wrote her master’s thesis about the Cheyenne Indians and later taught their language. While on a press trip to Memphis, she was inspired by the blues and formed an attachment to the region, returning as often as she could. Ms. Chauvin’s photographs have appeared in the French publication, Blues Magazine. She will share her belief “that there is something strong, poetic, emotional and mystical in the landscapes, juke joints, songs and voices of the land.”

Kirk Perry, Chickasaw Indians in the Delta and the Trail of Tears
Mr. Kirk Perry is the board secretary for the Chickasaw Foundation. He also helped establish and served as a board member of the Oklahoma Indian Housing Authority and the National American Indian Housing Authority. For over 25 years, Mr. Perry has operated successful businesses including architectural planning and consulting, oil and gas land leasing, commercial and residential building inspection, and as a general construction contractor before returning to work for the Chickasaw Nation. Mr. Perry now helps the Chickasaw people, supporting efforts to enhance the preservation of Chickasaw culture and history.

Willy Bearden, Never Let the Truth Get in the Way of a Good Story and Other Lessons I’ve Learned in the Delta

A native of Rolling Fork, Mississippi, Mr. Willy Bearden has expressed his love of the Mississippi Delta through his interest and talents in music, books, history, film-making and public speaking. He is best known for his popular “Memphis Memoirs” programs that air on the WKNO-TV (PBS). He has directed and produced a full-length motion picture, One Came Home, situated in the Delta of the 1940s. Mr. Bearden is the 2011 recipient of the University of Memphis College of Communication and Fine Arts Distinguished Achievement Award in the Creative and Performing Arts.

Afternoon Sessions Panelists

Sledge Taylor, Buckeye Farms & Shonda Warner, Chess Ag Full Harvest Partners LLC – High Tech Delta Farming

Sam Brookes, Forest Service Archeologist & Kirk Perry, board secretary, Chickasaw Foundation – Native American History in the Delta

Jonathan Blanchard, singer & Tyler Fritts, jug band musician – Indigenous Delta Music.

Beatrice Chauvin, photographer and musician – The Delta from a European Perspective

Dr. Douglas Cupples, adjunct professor, Christian Brothers University & Dr. Charles Crawford, professor, University of Memphis – The Civil War and Its Aftermath in the Mississippi Delta