Mary Jane Reed Gaudet

EDUCATOR, TOUR GUIDE, AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

“I’m a sixth-generation Natchezian, and I’m sure there were a few horse thieves in my line.”

Mary Jane may convince you to move to Natchez while she’s tending her flowers on the northern end of the river’s bluff. “You don’t know how many people have done that―moved here―because they saw me out working in the yard,” she says. The gardening conversation might easily grow to include all of the city’s history. “Natchez is the merging of three great races of people―Native American, African, and European―that left their indelible marks on the town.”

Ask about: Her tulips or the out-of-town Civil Rights workers she hosted during the Movement in the 1960s.

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