March 04, 2014
Friends of Morris Library to honor Jones
CARBONDALE, Ill. -- P. Michael Jones is the winner of the 2014 Delta Award from Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Friends of Morris Library.
An SIU alumnus and director of the John A. Logan Museum, Jones will be honored during a presentation at 5 p.m., April 3, in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium. Jones will present, “Egypt in the Civil War.” A reception will follow. The event is free and open to the public.
This is the 38th year the Friends of Morris Library have presented the Delta Award to an author who is a native of Southern Illinois, or who has written about the region, or to an organization that has contributed to the cultural life of the area.
Jones earned a bachelor’s degree in history at SIU in 1967 and taught sixth grade in Murphysboro for 33 years before retiring in 2001. A life-long local historian, Jones is the founder of the General John A. Logan Museum and has served as director for more than two decades.
He is the co-author of “The Life and Times of Major General John A. Logan” and “Murphysboro, Illinois 150 Years, A Pictorial History 1843-1993. ” Jones was co-author and editor of “Forgotten Soldiers: Murphysboro’s African-American Civil War Veterans” and served as historical consultant and co-producer of a half-hour documentary by the same name.
He co-wrote and produced the documentary “Caught in the Sweep of History: Egypt in the Civil War -- The First Year,” with partial funding from the Illinois Humanities Council. Jones is currently working to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War with a series of exhibits highlighting 19 Southern Illinois counties through each of the war’s four years.
For more information about the Friends of Morris Library, the Delta Award, or to register for the lecture, contact Kristine B. McGuire, director of development for Morris Library, at 618/453-1633 or kmcguire@lib.siu.edu. The lecture is free but registration is suggested to allow planning of refreshments.