October Luncheon

Join us for the October Chamber Luncheon as we kick off Vicksburg's 200th Anniversary celebration with an exciting panel discussion!

Dr. Stuart Rockoff, Executive Director of the Mississippi Humanities Council, and Mr. Brother Rogers from the Mississippi Department of History and Archives, will share fascinating stories about Mississippi’s history, with a special focus on the rich legacy of Vicksburg.
 

To bring us from the past to the future, Mayor George Flaggs and Ms. Kelle Barfield, President of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, will present their vision for where Vicksburg is headed in the years to come.

This event is a unique opportunity to reflect on Vicksburg’s history while also hearing directly from our leaders about the exciting future that awaits.

Don't miss this special luncheon as we celebrate the past, present, and future of Vicksburg!

Dr. Stuart Rockoff bio: 

A native of Texas, Stuart Rockoff received a B.A. in History from Wesleyan University in 1991. He then earned a M.A. and Ph.D. in American History from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in immigration, race, and American Jewish history. He then spent over 11 years as the Director of the History Department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi, where he was responsible for creating the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities. He has written and lectured widely on the history of Jews in the American South. In 2013, he became just the third executive director in the history of the Mississippi Humanities Council, following in the large footsteps of Dr. Cora Norman and Dr. Barbara Carpenter.

Mr. Brother Rogers bio: 
 

William Rogers, who goes by the nickname "Brother", works at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.  From 1990 to 2016, he was the associate director of the John C. Stennis Center for Public Service in Starkville, Mississippi. Before joining the Stennis Center, Brother served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Representative Donald Payne of New Jersey. Brother graduated magna cum laude in 1987 from the University of Alabama, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in economics, was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, and was selected as a Harry S. Truman Scholar from Mississippi. He holds a master's degree in public affairs (MPA) from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He grew up in Brandon, Mississippi and was a high school exchange student in Kyoto, Japan.

Brother is active in community affairs. He is a past president and current secretary-treasurer of the Mississippi Historical Society and recently finished two terms on the board of directors for the Mississippi Humanities Council. He served a six-year term on the board of the Mississippi Heritage Trust. Brother is a past president of both the Starkville chapter of Parents for Public Schools and Friends of the Oktibbeha County Heritage Museum. He is a past president and past lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis Club of Starkville and past vice president of the Starkville Area Habitat for Humanity affiliate. He is a past president of the United Way of North Central Mississippi and was the 2002 chair of their annual fund raising campaign. He served eight years as the facilitator for the Race Relations Team of the Starkville Area Chamber of Commerce and is responsible for the Cool Papa Bell historical marker in Starkville. He chaired the Unity Park Committee, which created a park in Starkville to honor Mississippians who have improved race relations in the state. He was a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News from 1994 to 2017. Brother was a scout leader from 1999 to 2011 and served two three-year terms as chairman of the Troop Committee for Boy Scout Troop 14. He won the 2011 Bert Reed Award for Outstanding Adult Leadership in Troop 14. He was a mentor in the Starkville public schools for six years. He has coached youth soccer and youth baseball teams.  

Brother won the 2017 Elmer Staats Award from the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. The award was established in 1993 in honor of Elmer B. Staats, former and long-serving Chair of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation Board of Trustees. The award goes to a Truman Scholar who exemplifies Mr. Staats's "professionalism, contributions to public service, intellectual and analytical abilities, and integrity and character."  Brother served for 20 years on Truman Scholar selection panels in Nashville, was a senior scholar at Truman Scholars Leadership Week, and helped organize numerous events for Truman Scholars, including regional conferences, visiting the USS TRUMAN aircraft carrier, special trips to the Pentagon, and seminars on Capitol Hill.

Brother has won two Awards of Merit from the Mississippi Historical Society -- one for his work on Unity Park in Starkville and another for photographing more than 1,500 historical markers across the state and creating the website, www.mississippimarkers.com.

Brother was an adjunct professor from 2008 to 2014 in the Honors College at the University of Alabama, where he taught a course on women and political leadership. 

In the spring of 2000, he spent four weeks in China with a delegation from Mississippi on a Rotary Group Study Exchange trip. In 2015, Brother toured Turkey with The Institute of Interfaith Dialog. An avid traveler, he has visited six continents, all 50 U.S. state capitals, and 57 of the 63 U.S. national parks. Brother is an avid Alabama football fan. He has read at least one biography of every U.S. president, seen every presidential gravesite, and toured every presidential library.

Mayor George Flaggs bio: 

 

George Flaggs, Jr. was sworn in for his third term as mayor of the City of Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 2021, after winning 68% of the vote. Before becoming the city’s chief executive, Flaggs represented his legislative district in the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1988 until 2013. He served as chair of the Corrections, Juvenile Justice, and Banking and Finance committees in the House of Representatives and was an active member of the Appropriations, Constitution, Legislative Budget, Public Health and Human Services, and Rules committees. Flaggs also chaired the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, was the only elected official to be named one of Mississippi’s Most Influential African Americans of 2019 and, most recently, was appointed by Governor Tate Reeves to lead the search committee for a new Corrections Commissioner for the State of Mississippi.

Mayor Flaggs has championed a transparent city government in Vicksburg committed to growth and service at the least cost to the taxpayer. Under Mayor Flaggs’ leadership, taxpayers have seen groundbreaking quality-of-life improvements, the creation of innovative economic development policies, and an unprecedented pro-business environment that will benefit Vicksburg for generations to come.

Mayor Flaggs and his wife, Valencia, have three adult children and seven grandchildren. Mayor Flaggs is of the Baptist Faith.

Ms. Kelle Barfield bio: 

Kelle Barfield serves as president of the Warren County Board of Supervisors and owns Lorelei Books in Vicksburg. She also owns Delta Warren Properties, dedicated to preservation of historic buildings in downtown Vicksburg.
 

Kelle retired after 33 years with Entergy Nuclear and now serves on the Mississippi Commission on School Accreditation and is treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Mississippi Main Street program. Locally, she serves on the Board of Directors of the Vicksburg Warren Chamber of Commerce. Kelle graduated Warren Central High School and earned a bachelor of journalism at the University of Texas, a master of science at Syracuse University and doctorate in organizational change at the University of Southern California.