Mississippi Native: Belinda Stewart
"Even when there are things you do not like about something, you can still love it. You can love it in ways that help make it better. I love the potential of Mississippi."
What does it mean to call Mississippi home? Why do people choose to leave or live in this weird, wonderful, and sometimes infuriating place? After working for a large architectural firm in North Carolina, Belinda Stewart felt called to return home to Webster County, Mississippi, to focus on her passion for historic preservation and adaptive reuse. She founded Belinda Stewart Architects, PA in 1990 in Eupora, growing her team steadily and taking on historically significant projects such as the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Museum in Holly Springs and the Amzie Moore House in Cleveland. Belinda believes “The energy of a small town has great power to foster creativity.” Below, she shares why she’s firmly rooted in Webster County.
Where are you from?
I am from Webster County, Mississippi—I live in the Village of Walthall and work in Eupora.
Why did you leave Mississippi? Where did you go?
I left Mississippi right after college for a variety of reasons. There were things I didn’t like about Mississippi, and I wanted to go somewhere new and full of opportunities. I thought I wanted to live in a larger place.
I went to North Carolina and worked with a large architectural firm that had a small segment that focused on historic preservation and adaptive reuse. This experience gave me an incredible base of knowledge for this type of work and allowed me to see the good that could come out of the reuse of existing structures. I became active in the local community and discovered that the preservation of existing buildings could make great positive change in a community. These buildings had stories that were important to the community and their preservation allowed those stories to be retained and brought to life.
I’m not sure I understood, or even could see Mississippi before I left. It took leaving Mississippi to be able to begin seeing it—to be able to look back and have a more objective and defined appreciation for it.
Why did you return to Mississippi?
I realized that Mississippi was Home, and it is deeply entrenched in me. It took me about four years to realize that I could go back home and perhaps have a part in creating some of that positive change for our communities. Problems exist everywhere and my calling as an architect gave me a way to be part of helping. After being away for five years, I moved back to my small hometown to start my own business focusing on historic preservation and adaptive reuse. I wasn’t sure that a small town could support an architectural business. That was thirty-four years ago. Our small town is perfect for our firm. We have developed a regional market throughout the Southeast, and we provide much more than architectural services.
When I was living in North Carolina I joined a book club and the first book we read was Wolf Whistle, Lewis Nordan’s fictionalized account of the lynching of Emmett Till. I was blown away that this was the first time I had heard about something so significant that had happened in our area. I had not understood that Mississippi was the epicenter of the civil rights movement. I began reading and researching this history and learning the deeper history of our area, which reinforced my desire to move back home.
We are honored to help restore the places that tell these stories. In the early 1990’s we designed a courthouse annex for Claiborne County in honor of Matt Ross, the first African American to be elected to office in that county in the 20th century. We also have worked in Holly Springs to help them tell Ida B. Wells’s story through work at the Ida B. Wells Museum and Gallery and at Rust College. We continue to work on the hallowed ground of the civil rights movement through planning, fundraising and restoration of the places associated with Emmett Till, and recently with the restoration of Martin Luther King’s church and parsonage in Montgomery, AL.
I love the potential of Mississippi.
Was the Mississippi you returned to the same one you had left?
I’m not sure I understood, or even could see Mississippi before I left. It took leaving Mississippi to be able to begin seeing it—to be able to look back and have a more objective and defined appreciation for it. I’m sure Mississippi had changed some in those five years, but there was still so much work that needed to be done. Mississippi is a wonderful, fascinating, complicated place. It has a perception problem, with good and bad history. It also has wonderful people who are doing extraordinary and good things. And amazing places with extraordinary stories to tell.
What does “home” mean to you? How does Mississippi fit into that definition?
Home means my core, my faith, my family. It means all the amazing things I learned from my grandmother and my parents and my friends, but it also means complicated things that need to be reckoned with and things that need light shined upon them. Home is also the tangible places that embody our history and our stories.
Mississippi is such an interesting and complicated place. Mississippi is determinedly authentic.
You know the saying home is where the heart is. I understand that on a very deep level. Even when there are things you do not like about something, you can still love it. You can love it in ways that help make it better. I love the potential of Mississippi. I love what we are able to do here. I love the projects that we are part of. I think the most important thing I love is that these projects touch people, they are about people, and they have the opportunity and potential to make lives better, or to inspire or to give opportunity.
One of the things I realized when I moved back was that when you’re in a small rural town, you have to create your own world, your own fun, your own programs, and, in my case, your own job.
How have you cultivated community in Mississippi? Who are the people who have made you feel rooted here?
One of the things I realized when I moved back was that when you’re in a small rural town, you have to create your own world, your own fun, your own programs, and, in my case, your own job. I love that in a small rural area, this is possible. You can create and cultivate in a small town. If you have an idea, and can find the means to accomplish it, it is often welcomed and supported in a small town.
There have been amazing people who have helped me feel rooted here. Moving back home and being around my family on a more permanent basis reinforced my roots and made building a family and a company possible. The local community has been very supportive and welcoming. We have an incredible work family here—local people and people who have moved here from all over the country to be part of our office, and part of the significant and meaningful projects that we work on. Our company’s roots are deep and we are working to broaden them.
I feel completely rooted in the world of preservation and adaptive reuse, and particularly in the use of this tangible evidence to help keep our stories alive.
What’s the weirdest question or assumption you’ve encountered about Mississippi (or about you as a Mississippian) by someone who’s never been here?
It surprises me when I meet someone who does not ever want to come to Mississippi. Some people have negative perceptions and don’t know the good that is being done here.
How has living in Mississippi affected your identity and your life’s path?
Living in Mississippi has made me more aware and more hopeful. I am continually learning about my state—both good and bad.
The main thing I have learned is that “There’s Always A Way.” A way to make a positive impact, a way to lend support or make connections that help lead to solutions. There are extraordinary examples of perseverance and creative solutions throughout this state. Solutions may not always be apparent, or quick, or in a straight line. I’ve learned that spending the time to deeply get to know the issue, the challenges, and the people and places affected gives the base of information needed to help make an improvement, or help define a road map toward success.
The main thing I have learned is that “There’s Always A Way.” A way to make a positive impact, a way to lend support or make connections that help lead to solutions.
What is something that you’ve learned about Mississippi only by living here? In what ways has Mississippi lived up to your expectations?
History and culture here are DEEP. Events happened here that changed our world, events that affected people here and everywhere. There is unlimited potential here. Mississippi is rich in many ways.
Do you still think about moving away someday? Does a sense of duty keep you rooted here? Do you have a “tipping point”?
No, I have never thought about leaving again. I am here to stay. I bought a great old house about a year after I moved back here and remember saying that I would be here until they cart me over to the local cemetery. I am incredibly rooted here—to my family, to my community, and increasingly to the amazing people I continue to meet and share paths with.
What do you wish the rest of the country understood about Mississippi?
The good of people here. The kindness and care for others. The incredible talent and skill of people here. There is no place in the world with more potential.
Do you have a favorite Mississippi writer, artist, or musician who you think everyone needs to know about?
Everyone should know about Robin Whitfield! Robin lives and has a studio in downtown Grenada, MS, and is responsible for leading the effort to save the extraordinary Chakchiuma Swamp and create the Lee Tart Nature Preserve. Robin is an incredible artist, teacher, naturalist and always a community advocate and enabler.
If you had one billion dollars to invest in Mississippi, how would you spend your money?
Investing In our small communities—getting to know the people in each community, their stories, the specific needs and the unique challenges and opportunities in much greater detail and helping to unfold that potential. Investing in ways to help give all Mississippians, and their places, the same opportunities that anyone anywhere in the world would have. Particularly our children.
What or who do you want to shamelessly promote? (It can absolutely be a project you’re working on, or something you are involved in.)
The ongoing projects in memorial to Emmett Till and his mother Mamie Till Mobley. We’ve been working on telling their story for eighteen years. Jerome G. Little, County Supervisor, brought us into this project. His steady encouragement and championing of this project gave us a strong Mission for this kind of work. He helped us see that we could help guide and enable these projects way beyond what we were initially hired to do. We’ve learned that architectural projects are always more than just bricks and mortar—but the memory, the stories and the people who love them. How can this project make a difference? How can this project do good for the community?