Dockery Farms was established by Will Dockery in 1895 to produce cotton, America’s most important export of the 19th and early 20th century. African Americans who came to Dockery to cultivate cotton created a culture that inspired the music we know as the Blues. In the words of B.B. King “You might say it all started right here.” We took a trip to see the farm for ourselves on the Mississippi Blues Trail so meet as at the table for more adventures from the Delta….   If you follow this show closely you know that at the end of March we visited Mississippi for the 2nd time since having this podcast… that’s the only 2 times we’ve ever been and there is SO much to learn about the history and culture there that we have divided up episodes from our recent trip to share with you. Today is the final episode from our Delta travels and we are excited to talk about Dockery Farms, located in Cleveland, MS… in the northern part of the state… 2 hours north of Jackson, MS… 2 hours south of Memphis, TN   We got to speak with William Lester, executive director of the Dockery Farm Foundation - he’s a historian, taught at Delta State for 38 years and he’s also an artist. Connect: https://www.dockeryfarms.org/ Our tour guide, William Lester's, Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamlestertrumpets/ Check out our whole episode on Cleveland, MS: https://steelmagnoliaspodcast.com/episode/visit-cleveland-mississippi Sleep better at night with Boll and Branch sheets. Get 15% off your first order when you use promo code STEELMAGNOLIAS at bollandbranch.com. That’s Boll and Branch—b-o-l-l, a-n-d, branch—dot com. Promo code STEELMAGNOLIAS. Exclusions apply. See site for details. Are you enjoying this podcast? Would you share and/or support this show? Text a friend with a link to the show https://pod.link/1442852139 Financially support us by visiting https://tr.ee/9NKBLc2fYD