Katie Blount has announced plans to retire after over a decade of leading the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
Blount, who led the agency through the creation of the Two Mississippi Museums and its role in changing and archiving the state’s old flag, will retire on June 20, 2026.
“Mississippi’s history is the central arc of American history – from Native American experience to cotton and slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, up to the Civil Rights Movement and beyond,” Blount said. “I’m extremely grateful I’ve had the opportunity to serve the people of this state and work alongside a staff whose passion to preserve history runs as deep as mine.”
Blount first began at MDAH in 1994 as the agency’s public relations coordinator and was later promoted to assistant to the director and deputy director for communication. In 2015, she became the second woman to get the role of director, following Charlotte Capers in 1955.
Under Blount’s leadership, the creation of the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, along with MDAH’s role in getting a Confederate-laden state flag retired, were undoubtedly headliners.
But she also helped the agency strengthen relations with tribal partners and begun or completed work on several renovation of development projects at historic sites across the state, including the new Vicksburg Civil War Visitor Center, Historic Jefferson College near Natchez, the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, the stabilization of Windsor Ruins, and the upcoming Margaret Ann Crigler Park in downtown Jackson.
Earlier this year, Blount was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association for State and Local History for her commitment to inclusive storytelling, which has reshaped programming, interpretation, and staffing at the agency charged with preserving the state’s history through records, artifacts, and properties.
She said the key to preserving Mississippi’s past is to tell honest stories about its people and places, both the good and bad: “Embracing complex stories draws audiences and earns the trust of partners in a position to pour resources into Mississippi. We have consistently shared Mississippi’s layers of rich narrative through our work.”
Spence Flatgard, president of the MDAH Board of Trustees, called Blount’s work “transformational” and said the search for her successor will begin immediately.
“Her commitment to telling the full story of Mississippi’s compelling history has elevated the work of MDAH,” Flatgard said. “Katie is universally respected by her peers and state leaders. Her love for public service and for Mississippians has helped us to tell our story to schoolchildren and to presidents. Our state has been blessed by her leadership, and she will always have our profound gratitude.”
One of Blount’s many lasting legacies will be her commitment to creating the William and Elise Winter Endowment to support the Foundation for Mississippi History, the nonprofit that supports MDAH. The endowment will continue to ensure Mississippi students can learn the state’s history at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson free of charge with no admission, free transportation, and free lunch.
“Ensuring that future generations have access to world-class museums that tell our state’s powerful history is a lasting legacy we can all be proud of,” she concluded.
