He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Alabama in 1982. For the first decade of his career, he focused on public relations, marketing, and publishing. To start off his unintended career in museum development, he created the Peavey Electronics Visitor Center and Museum in 1991. Later he curated local exhibits for Smithsonian Museums on Main Street exhibitions “Produce for Victory: Posters from the American Home Front” (2002), “New Harmonies: Celebrating America’s Roots Music” (2011), “The Way We Worked” (2013) and “Water/Ways” (2018). In 2019 he collaborated with the Smithsonian to create “Celebrating America’s Industrial Revolution: WORK” at the Soulé Steam Museum. He is currently working on a companion exhibit for SPARK! Places of Innovation which will open at the Museum in July 2026. He served on the board of Mississippi Museums Association for many years and as President in 2016-17. He represented Mississippi at Museum Advocacy Day at the United States Capitol in 2011 and 2015.

He is currently the Executive Director of the Soulé Steam Museum (Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum), a non-profit organization that preserves and interprets historic Soulé Steam Feed Works factory site. Soulé offers one of the most unique visitor experiences…the chance to step back in time to see how hard people worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2005 he developed the Soulé Live Steam Festival, an annual event that continues to attract visitors from across the nation and abroad. In 2015 he produced Maker Faire Meridian, a Mississippi first for this internationally recognized series of events often called “The Greatest Show and Tell Events on Earth.”

Hatcher is an avid researcher and genealogist. He, along with Nel Hatcher and several other fellow genealogists, worked together to create www.hatcherfamilyassn.com, a website featuring well-documented lineages for Hatcher families in the United States.

“I look forward to serving in the capacity of Governor General for The Order of First Families of Mississippi,” Hatcher said. “Preserving the stories and legacies of our pioneering Mississippi ancestors is very important to me.” He is also looking to encourage the younger generation of genealogists and historians. “We live in a difficult time when popular culture is working to eradicate the accomplishments of our ancestors and the early history of our state. It is time to make sure our descendants and other kin are knowledgeable about Mississippi’s early founders.” He will serve as Governor General through 2027.