Rufus Ward

Rufus Ward has been active in the fields of history and historic preservation in Mississippi for more than 35 years. He divides his time between consulting and lecturing on cultural history and writing a weekly history column for the Columbus Commercial Dispatch. He also serves as an instructor for Mississippi University for Women’s Life Enrichment Program. Ward is the author of The History Press’ The Tombigbee River Steamboats and Columbus Chronicles, Tales from East Mississippi. He has been a contributing author for two other books, After Removal: The Choctaw in Mississippi, University Press of Mississippi and By the Flow of the Inland River, A History of Columbus, Mississippi, to 1825, Snapping Turtle Press. Additionally, he has published over 150 newspaper, journal and magazine articles on Southern history. He is an Advisor Emeritus to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Ward's past honors include The Calvin Brown Award from the Mississippi Association of Professional Archaeologists and a Resolution of Commendation from the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Department of Archives & History for his "contributions and commitment to the preservation and interpretation of Mississippi History." Rufus, a Columbus native and retired prosecuting attorney serves as chairman of the Billups-Garth Foundation. He and his wife Karen and bird dog Liza Faye reside in Columbus and West Point, Mississippi. In West Point they have a ca. 1869 Victorian home and are presently restoring the ca. 1827 "Ole Homestead" in Columbus. Rufus graduated from the University of Mississippi where he received a Bachelor of Arts and a Juris Doctor.