August 12, 2026 12:00 PM –1:00 PM
History Is Lunch: Randy Deaton, “Art Crimes: The FBI and the Return of a Mississippi Rifle”
At noon on Wednesday, August 12, Randy Deaton, retired FBI special agent, will discuss the remarkable story of a nineteenth-century rifle carried by Private Charles H. Gibbs during the Mexican-American War and later tied to the Civil War. The rifle disappeared from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History in the 1970s and remained missing for more than 40 years. Deaton will trace the rifle’s journey from the battlefield to the museum, its mysterious disappearance, and the investigative work that recovered it as part of the History Is Lunch series. This free event will take place in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums and will stream live on the MDAH Facebook page and YouTube channel.