The Annual Pilgrimage. Natchez, Mississippi. 'Where the Old South Still Lives

Year Published: 1938

Description: Tthis 1938 home movie might be titled "The Annual Pilgrimage. Natchez, Mississippi. 'Where the Old South Still Lives". Shot in black-and-white and partially in color, it shows various family events before focusing on the Pilgrimage, a yearly event in Natchez, Mississippi, that continues to this day. It began in 1932, when the Natchez Garden Club invited fellow garden clubs from all around the South for a series of garden tours, teas, and luncheons on the grounds of the city's historic houses. Many of the homes' interiors had fallen into disrepair, and tours were supposed to be limited to the exteriors -- until a rainstorm during the Pilgrimage famously changed the thinking of organizers. The event was so popular it became an annual one, and helped ensure the preservation and restoration of many mansions. Today the Natchez Pilgrimage is considered foundational to the city's tourist industry. In the early era the event celebrated and romanticized the "Old South" and antebellum era, with residents dressed in appropriate period costumes. Until the modern era, the portrayal romanticized the plantation era while glossing over the harsh realities of slavery that were foundational to it. The film illustrates how Southern elites in the 1930s used heritage tourism to promote a nostalgic, and often misleading, narrative of the antebellum South. It showcases various historic properties and mansions, highlighting the activities hosted as part of the pilgrimage, which are deeply tied to this complex history. Two pastors/priests converse and shake hands (00:08). Their wives stand beside them (00:21). The Trinity Episcopal Church in Pass Christian, Mississippi (00:35). Footage of a family, including members from different generations, in their home with their dogs (00:39). Text overlay (02:43). Views of Edgewater Park in Mississippi (02:59). Edgewater Gulf Hotel Resort in Edgewater Park, Mississippi (03:24). Title card: "The Annual Pilgrimage. Natchez, Mississippi. 'Where the Old South Still Lives" (04:06). Views of Natchez, Mississippi (04:14). Text overlay (04:31). Scenes of the exterior and interior of Auburn, a historic mansion located in Natchez, Mississippi (04:36). Views of the surrounding garden (05:12). Views of pilgrimage activities taking place at D'Evereux Hall, another historic mansion in Natchez (05:50), Stanton Hall, also known as Belfast, a grand antebellum mansion (06:05), the Gloucester mansion and a sign promoting the 1938 Pilgrimage (06:38), Longwood, also known as Nutt’s Folly, an antebellum mansion (06:52), and the Dunleigh Historic Inn, an antebellum mansion (07:17). Overlooking the Mississippi River (07:34). Views of the Mississippi River from the Old Natchez Trace (07:41). Text overlay (07:59). Views of Rapp House, the oldest house in Natchez (08:03). Views of the Richmond Mansion, also known as the Marshall House (08:15), showcasing footage of a white family and an individual of color depicted as domestic staff (08:26). Green Leaves, also known as the Koontz House or Beltzhoover House, a Greek Revival mansion (09:12). The Briars antebellum mansion (09:35). Text overlay (09:53). The site of the first Marine Hospital (10:00). Text overlay (10:12). Views of the Rosalie Mansion (10:17). A well dressed African American / Black man poses at Afton Villa, an elegant Gothic Revival mansion located near St. Francisville, Louisiana, not far from Natchez, Mississippi. The man lifts his tall hat in a salute to the camera (10:39). A 1930s Chrysler Airflow C-1 sedan car with a trailer drives up a stately plantation driveway lined with trees (11:59).

Online Copy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8-jotA_huw

Metadata Source:YouTube