Dear Editor,

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) and the Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign (Friends) have held only one public engagement meeting on a project totaling an estimated $120 million and of significant interest to not only the citizens of Vicksburg, but also the taxpayers throughout the state. These partners, one state and one private, have announced no further meetings. 

As a private organization, Friends is not obligated to consult the public, although they might go beyond legal requirements to counter the perceived, or actual lack of transparency, to date. As a state-funded organization, one would reasonably expect that the MDAH would have an obligation approaching a legal requirement to engage the public in a meaningful way – but this is not the case. 

While the MDAH is a state agency, it operates under a board that has no accountability to the state taxpayers.  Despite repeated failed legislative measures, the MDAH Board remains unique among other state boards in that it is self-appointed.  As a term expires, the board recommends a replacement and the Senate confirms. This means that if the MDAH Board approves, the executive director at the MDAH can proceed at pace to build her interpretive center without any further public engagement and is nearly free of taxpayer accountability. 

If there were to be further public engagement, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann and Sen. Briggs Hopson (chair of the Appropriations Committee) would need to require it — and they should to broaden the academic and administrative backgrounds of their advisors to better ensure the success of a major state investment. 

As it stands now, the Vicksburg project is only informed by the input of two unelected and relatively local boards.  If you compare the qualifications and experiences of the board members of Friends and the MDAH to the Gettysburg Foundation, one wonders if Mr. Hosemann and Mr. Hopson have been properly advised or if they have been caught up in a small echo chamber of well-intended and well-placed board members restricted to Vicksburg and the State of Mississippi, rather than the leaders of national companies and nonprofits with serious administrative and academic credentials which you find on the Gettysburg Foundation board. 

The executive directors of Friends and the MDAH, local politicians, and many local supporters of the Vicksburg Interpretive Center cite the Gettysburg project as the goal and model to follow.  There was more than one Congressional Hearing on the Gettysburg project. To date, the citizens of Vicksburg and taxpayers of the state have only been consulted on the point of architecture, which is a shame because there are many local people who are extremely knowledgeable about the events in Vicksburg during the Civil War and reconstruction. 

The goal for Vicksburg should be to exceed Gettysburg. To do that we need to have board members and advisors well beyond Vicksburg and the state whose professional backgrounds exceed those of Gettysburg, and in addition to impeccable credentials, have access to high levels of the federal government and to private institutional capital. Mr. Hosemann and Mr. Hopson need to lead and have a lot of work to do to ensure that their Vicksburg Interpretive Center is a long-term success. 

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Gregory E. Bingham is a retired CPA with nearly 20 years of governmental and not-for-profit experience. He is a graduate of the decorative arts program sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and now lives in Vicksburg and is restoring an 1853 Greek Revival Planters Cottage, which he calls the Thrift Kain House.