Katie Blount, who oversaw the opening of two state history museums in 2017 and helped coordinate a redesign of the state flag in 2020, said Tuesday that she will retire next year as director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Blount joined the department in 1994 as public relations coordinator. She worked as assistant to the director and deputy director for communication before being named director in 2015. She is the second woman to hold the job. Charlotte Capers led the department from 1955 to 1969.

“Embracing complex stories draws audiences and earns the trust of partners in a position to pour resources into Mississippi,” Blount said in a press release.

She said she will retire June 30, the end of the current state budget year. Blount said the department’s employe

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