• A curve along the Natchez Trace Parkway with fall colors

    Natchez Trace

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  • Sequestration Effects on the Parkway

    On March 1, 2013, the Parkway was required to reduce its annual budget by five percent, in accordance with the sequestration provision of the Budget Control Act of 2011. Click the link to learn about visitor center, restroom, and services impacts. More »

  • Portion of National Scenic Trail Near Tupelo Closed to Hikers

    Part of the Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (NOT the Parkway) near Tupelo, MS, has been closed until 2015 due to construction under Tupelo's Major Thoroughfare Construction Project. Parkway travelers may expect delays, but no detours are expected. More »

Event Details

  • 02/16/2013

    Location: Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center, milepost 266 near Tupelo, MS | Map Time: 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Fee Information: Free Contact Name: Parkway Visitor Center Staff Contact Phone Number: 1-800-305-7417

Smith, a technological consultant who enjoys researching topics about science, agriculture, and Mississippi, will present the story of Prince Abdul-Rahman. In Africa, he was heir to a throne, in Natchez he was purchased as an enslaved person by a cotton and tobacco farmer. He eventually became the overseer of a plantation, was later freed, and returned to Africa.  

Smith has presented several popular programs at the Parkway Visitor Center in the past, including one on the Old Natchez District and one on the Barber of Natchez. In 2004, Smith published a book, Madness and the Mississippi Bonds, about the Mississippi bond scandal that became a worldwide cause célèbre in the decades immediately preceding the Civil War. For several years, he has led a walking tour of historic Faulkner sites during Ripley's annual Faulkner Festival.