Historic DeSoto Foundation annual meeting postponed

Historic DeSoto County Museum curator Robert Long announced on Friday that the Historic DeSoto Foundation’s annual meeting has been postponed temporarily. The annual meeting and program had been scheduled to be held on Thursday, Jan. 13 at the old First Presbyterian Church, 71 E. Commerce Street in Hernando.

Long said the Foundation’s Board of Directors this week made the decision to postpone the annual meeting out of concern about rising COVID-19 cases.

“It’s out of an abundance of caution the board decided to postpone the meeting,” Long said. “This event will go on, however.”

Expected to be the featured guest speaker when the annual meeting is held will be Diane McNeil with the Unknown Child Holocaust Exhibit, and author Joy Lucius with the American Family Association Journal. Lucius is a writer and author from Tupelo.

It was Lucius’ visit to the Unknown Child Exhibit at the DeSoto County Museum that inspired her to write about two sisters, Rose and Odette Aboulafia, two real-life Jewish sisters from Paris, who were murdered during the Holocaust. The book is entitiled, “Priceless Pennies: Rose and Odette – Unknown Children of the Holocaust.”

McNeil will provide an update on the Unknown Child project and Lucius will speak on her journey in writing her poignant story.

The exhibit at the DeSoto County Museum brings in thousands of visitors each year from around the world.

For more information contact the DeSoto County Museum at 662-429-8852.