In 2024, Josephine Hannegan began a project to interview people who had lived or married in the walls of a hisotric house in Meridian, Mississippi. Then, in 2025, the Foundation picked the project back up to discover what had yet to be told.
The fact that Merrehope survives to this day is a testament to the spirit of preservation of Meridian; however, the constant changing of hands has resulted in an incomplete understanding of much of the house’s history. Thus, the current Foundation’s board has decided to gather as much information from tenants of the house when it served as a boarding and apartment building as possible.
A social media post encouraged Facebook users to share memories of the house, and the response was overwhelming, with the original post garnering dozens of comments from previous residents, family members of owners, or couples who wed at the house. Thus, this project aims to follow up on the excitement that the social media post elicited to gain a new perspective on the history of Merrehope when it was known as a boarding house.
Through community networks and with the support of the MAX Meridian, we have recorded interviews with participants who lived in the house when it was an apartment building. Their stories recount not only the history of the house, but the lives of the people who made up Meridian in the twentieth century. These are their stories.
Examining the Lives of Tenants of Merrehope House in the Twentieth Century
This collection features audio and video recordings, photographs, deeds, and handwritten accounts. Some who were interviewed lived there for only a…
Merrehope by Josephine Hannegan
This collection features a write-up of the history of Merrehope. In addition, it also includes summaries of interviews with people who lived in…