JANS – The Mississippi Historical Society held its annual meeting March 6-7 in Jackson to honor its 2025 award winners, including presenting the Lifetime Achievement Award to Frank Figgers, a lifelong civil rights and community activist.
Awards were also given for Book of the Year, Journal of Mississippi History Article of the Year, and Teacher of the Year at the gathering that drew nearly 200 people to the Two Mississippi Museums.
Figgers was active in the Civil Rights Movement while a student at Lanier High School and Tougaloo College. Later at Jackson State University, Figgers preserved stories of civil rights activism through oral histories, and he led the interpretation and preservation of M.W. Stringer Lodge, which housed the office of Medgar Evers. The lodge also was the site of numerous significant events during the movement, including the convention of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party…