Robert Bruce Smith, IV - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Current Activities

Robert Bruce Smith, IV is a Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

historian and native writer. Smith presently lives in Tupelo, MS where he does technology consulting. He currently reviews Tupelo Symphony Orchestra

Tupelo Symphony Orchestra

The Tupelo Symphony Orchestra is the resident orchestral performing organization in Tupelo, MS-Founding Events:The need for a symphony orchestra in Tupelo, MS led to fund-raising efforts, including organization of the community resources initially required for the development of the orchestra,...

concerts for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal is the largest daily newspaper in northeast Mississippi. It was first published in 1872. In 1934 it was taken over by George Mclean, a proponent of leftist social policies. It is based in Tupelo, Mississippi and owned by Journal, Inc...

in addition to writing a local history column. He is presently researching topics about science, architecture, and Mississippi

Mississippi

history for the purpose of presenting lecture topics to Mississippi

Mississippi

historical groups, museums, and Universities.

Early Background

Robert Bruce Smith spent his childhood in Ripley, MS, graduated from high school in Tupelo, MS, and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...

. He previously served his country in the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

and then went on to pursue a career as a representative for the community concerts division of Columbia Artists Management

Columbia Artists Management

Columbia Artists Management is an international leader in managing the careers and touring activities of the world's most prominent performing artists and institutions.Led by Chairman and CEO Ronald A...

in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

for 19 years. Smith also worked as a computer specialist and systems manager of Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods

Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...

, Inc.

Historical Writings and Lectures

During 2004, Smith published a book, Madness and the Mississippi Bonds, about the famous Mississippi bond scandal. The scandal became a worldwide cause célèbre in the decades immediately preceding the Civil War

Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....

.
For several years, he has led a walking tour of historic William Faulkner

William Faulkner

William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...

sites during Ripley, MS’s annual Faulkner Festival. Last summer, he led a similar tour of Ripley and New Albany for visiting scholars at the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

’s Faulkner-Yoknapatawpha Conference in Oxford, MS.
Bruce's father (Robert Bruce Smith, III) was the special prosecutor appointed by Mississippi

Mississippi

Governor J.P. Coleman in the Emmett Till

Emmett Till

Emmett Louis "Bobo" Till was an African-American boy who was murdered in Mississippi at the age of 14 after reportedly flirting with a white woman. Till was from Chicago, Illinois visiting his relatives in the Mississippi Delta region when he spoke to 21-year-old Carolyn Bryant, the married...

case. Bruce, along with his brother Jak Smith (an attorney in Tupelo, MS), retain their father’s papers from the Emmett Till

Emmett Till

trial.

Historical Presentations

Bruce is a renowned historian about all aspects of Mississippi

Mississippi

history, specializing in the life of William Faulkner

William Faulkner

and William Faulkner's grandfather, Col. William Clark Falkner

William Clark Falkner

William Clark Falkner was a soldier, lawyer, politician, businessman, and author in northern Mississippi...

. His ability to lecture extemporaneously upon any topic related to Mississippi social life and family backgrounds is engaging to all historical societies and museums.
Mr. Robert Bruce Smith presented two history programs on William Johnson

William Johnson (barber)

William T. Johnson was a free African American barber, who lived in Natchez, Mississippi.Johnson was born into slavery, but his slaveholder emancipated him in 1820. His mother Amy was freed in 1814 and his sister Adelia in 1818. He trained with his brother-in-law James Miller as a barber, and...

(the Barber of Natchez) on Saturday, February 13, 2010, at the Natchez Trace Parkway

Natchez Trace Parkway

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a National Park Service unit in the southeastern United States that commemorates the historic Old Natchez Trace and preserves sections of the original trail....

Visitor Center, near Tupelo, MS with a program entitled "William Johnson: Witness to a Vanished Natchez World." He presented readings directly from the diary of William Johnson.
Mr. Smith focused on William Johnson by examining his life as a free black barber and diarist who, while living in Natchez, MS during the antebellum period, became a successful business man. William Johnson was a free man of color (although born a slave) in a town cosmopolitan enough to admire his business ability and integrity, but unable to grant him full citizenship or social equality. As a result, Johnson made the best of the half-world in between, unburdening himself in page after page of priceless Old South observations while graciously passing his days with family, servants, and his trusty violin, living in a comfortable Natchez, MS townhouse.
The talks by Robert Bruce Smith combined authentic images from the 1800s, with William Johnson's own lively words, to revive the very human side of life in this famous African-American's vanished Natchez, MS life.

Musical Activities

His scholarly knowledge of classical music derives from his degree in piano at the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

, along with the 19 years of work with Columbia Artists Management

Columbia Artists Management

, during which he traveled the United States for concert scheduling with symphony orchestras. His knowledge of music history and music literature is encyclopedic, as acknowledged by the Tupelo Symphony Orchestra

Tupelo Symphony Orchestra

, for which he presents pre-concert program lectures in collaboration with conductor Steven Byess

Steven Byess

- Early career :Byess attended Georgia State University, receiving a Bachelor of Music Degree in classical performance and jazz studies, and Cleveland Institute of Music, from which he received Master of Music degree. While there he studied with Louis Lane,Carl Topilow in the area of conducting. He...

.
Additionally, he reviews classical music concerts for the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

Latest Writings

Robert Bruce Smith is equally adept at in-depth knowledge of quantum mechanics and physics, including deep space astronomy and gravitational waves. His recent writing includes the fusion of poetry and physics to explore the meaning of the universe.

Educational Activities

He is also involved in teaching classes during the evening as a part of the curriculum at the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

at the Tupelo campus.

External links

http://www.nems360.com/view/full_story/3595270/article-LOCAL-FOLKS--Tupelo-man-combines-his-love-for-music--history?
http://www.nems360.com/view/full_story/2353475/article-Ravishing-Ravel-wraps-Tupelo-s-symphony-season?

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