Our very own Jeffrey Martin will join a panel of experts to discuss professional wrestling in the south on Tuesday, February 18!
“Professional Wrestling in the South” will be the subject of a Humanities presentation at 6 PM on February 18, at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center auditorium.
The public is invited to attend the event, which will feature a panel discussion by Dr. Chris Stacey, professor of history at Louisiana State University – Alexandria; Jeffrey Martin, manager of the Itawamba County Pratt Memorial Library; Dr. Chuck Westmoreland Jr., interim chair for the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and associate professor of history at Delta State University; and Dr. Toby Bates, associate professor of history at Mississippi State University – Meridian.
Stacey, whose research interests include the history of professional wrestling and 1980s cultural history, is the author of Populism and Professional Wrestling in the Sunbelt South: From Rasslin’ to Sports Entertainment.
Martin is a lifelong Mississippian and a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi. His first book, Professional Wrestling in Mississippi: A History, was released by The History Press on June 5, 2023. It revisits everything from the carnival wrestling days of the late 1800s to the chiseled melodrama of modern wrestling. Readers learn about Billy Romanoff, the old school wrestler turned promoter, who made wrestling a weekly staple at the Jackson City Auditorium; Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee, who brought down the house on Friday nights at the Tupelo Sports Arena; and George and Gil Culkin, the father-and-son duo who split with “Cowboy” Bill Watts to create their own Mississippi territory, kickstarting the careers of Kamala, Terry Gordy, Michael Hayes and many other pivotal figures.
Westmoreland has researched and published on the intersection of sports, race and religion in the U.S. South.
Growing up in Tupelo, Bates was immersed in the world of Memphis area wrestling, which extended into the Tupelo area.
The event is sponsored by ICC’s Humanities Club. Admission is free. For more information, email Masha Laney, History instructor, at molaney@iccms.edu or call (662) 862-8023.