Mission & Staff

Mission

The Margaret Walker Center is an archive, museum, and Black Studies institute, dedicated to the preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of African American history and culture for a local and global community of students, scholars, and the supporting public.

Vision and Goals

Founded by Margaret Walker in 1968, the Center seeks to honor her academic, artistic, and activist legacy by expanding and promoting its manuscript holdings and oral history collections, interpreting African American history and culture through its museum and exhibits, coordinating public programs on campus and throughout the community, preserving historic structures central to the African American experience, and advocating for a degree-granting Black Studies program at Jackson State University.

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Staff

Chioma Ajuonuma
Graduate Fellow
History & Culture Access Consortium (HCAC)
E-mail: chioma.r.ajuonuma@students.jsums.edu
Phone: 601-979-3935
Location: Ayer Hall

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Alissa Rae Funderburk, MA
Mellon Foundation Oral Historian
Email: alissa.funderburk@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.3144
Location: Ayer Hall, 322

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Patrice Jones-Gibbs, MS
Administrative Assistant/Building Administrator
Email: patrice.l.jones@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.2735
Location: Ayer Hall, 203

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Raymond Garrad Lee, MA
Digital Humanities Program Manager
History and Culture Access Consortium (HCAC)
Email: raymond.lee@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.6883
Location: Ayer Hall, 315

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Robert Luckett, PhD
Director & Professor of History
Email: robert.luckett@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.3935
Location: Ayer Hall

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Jaylen McDaniels
Undergraduate Fellow
History & Culture Access Consortium (HCAC)
Email: jaylen.f.mcdaniels@students.jsums.edu
Phone: 601-979-3935
Location: Ayer Hall

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Jeremy McDuffey
Mellon Graduate Assistant
Email: jeremy.r.mcduffey@students.jsums.edu
Phone: 601-979-3935
Location: Ayer Hall

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Caroline Rutto
Mellon Graduate Assistant 
Email: carolyne.j.rutto@students.jsums.edu
Phone: 601-979-3935
Location: Ayer Hall

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Lauren Shelby
Education and PR Manager
Email: lauren.e.shelby@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.1349
Location: Ayer Hall, 320

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Angela D. Stewart, MA
Archivist
Email: angela.d.stewart@jsums.edu
Phone: 601.979.2460
Location: Ayer Hall, First Floor

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