The Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music started with the enthusiasm of local people about "early music" and a birthday party. Dr. Ernst Borinski, a Professor of Sociology at Tougaloo College since 1947, threw elaborate annual birthday parties throughout the 1970’s as a gathering place to bring together many of the progressive elements in Jackson. Until his death in 1982, Dr. Borinski inspired and helped train many social activists and attorneys, and hosted a forum series during the sixties which brought the nation's leading figures to Tougaloo and contributed to the college's leading role in the civil rights movement.
In the late seventies, at an ACLU auction Dr. Borinski purchased an evening of music by John Paul and intended to have him perform at his annual party.
