Chris Goodwin is the Director of the Public Information section of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, where he has worked since 2001. MDAH is a comprehensive historical agency that performs the functions of multiple groups in other states, from the operation of the state archives to the oversight of the state’s historic preservation program to the administration of museums and historic sites across Mississippi. The highest-profile attractions the department has opened in recent years are the new Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, which have welcomed more than 300,000 people since December 9, 2017. The weekly History Is Lunch lecture series, coordinated by Goodwin, averages 125 attendees and features guest speakers discussing various aspects of the state’s history.

Before joining the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, Goodwin was an editor at the Clarion-Ledger newspaper. A native of Water Valley, Mississippi, he attended both Mississippi State University and the University of Mississippi, which is problematic mostly in November during the Egg Bowl. He will present “Ten Things You Didn't Know about the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.”