Charles L. Sullivan, after receiving the president’s gavel, speaks to members of the Mississippi Historical Society assembled at the awards luncheon during the society’s annual meeting on March 2, 2013, in Vicksburg.
Charles L. Sullivan, professor emeritus and archivist at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, has been elected president of the Mississippi Historical Society. He was named vice president in 2012 and elevated to the presidency during the annual meeting on March 2, in Vicksburg. He will serve as president for one year.
Sullivan is the author of “The Mississippi Gulf Coast: Portrait of a People” (1985), “Hurricanes of the Mississippi Gulf Coast” (1986), “Hurricanes of the Mississippi Gulf Coast: Three Centuries of Destruction” (2009), “Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College: A History, 1911-2000” (2002), “Down South with the Dixie Press” (2006) and “Gulf Coast Album: A Journey in Historic Photographs 1899-2011 From New Orleans Across the Mississippi Gulf Coast to Mobile” (2011). In collaboration with Bourbon Hughes, he produced “Valor Remembered: 20th Century War Dead of the State of Mississippi” (1996).
Sullivan is the 2013 recipient of the Mary Ellen Alexander Lifetime Achievement Award from the Long Beach Historical Society and was named Biloxi Historian of the Year in 1987. He was also the recipient of the Director’s Award for Preservation of Mississippi Culture by the Mississippi Humanities Council (2008) and the Dunbar Rowland Award from the Mississippi Historical Society in recognition of his lifelong contributions to the preservation, study, and interpretation of Mississippi history (2010).
Sullivan grew up in Natchez and graduated from Natchez High School in 1960. His parents, Charles and Sarah Sullivan, were lifelong residents of Natchez. His sister, Janet Sullivan, a Natchez resident, is special projects coordinator for the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s Southern District Highway Commissioner Tom King.
The Mississippi Historical Society, founded in 1858 and reorganized in 1953, encourages outstanding work in interpreting, teaching and preserving Mississippi history. A nonprofit membership organization that works closely with the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, the Society also publishes the online publication “Mississippi History Now” and provides annual grants to support programs of the Junior Historical Society. It also publishes books, maps and other materials aimed toward the education of the general public.