Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Civil rights museum in Jackson, United States
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum is a documentation center in Jackson housing eight gallery spaces filled with exhibits on the movement for equality. The collections feature artifacts, photographs, and personal items that show how people lived through and responded to injustice.
The institution opened in 2017 as Mississippi's first state-funded center dedicated to this history, marking when the state formally began to document and recognize this past. Its creation came after decades during which this history was largely absent from official spaces.
The museum's name and mission tie it to the years 1945 to 1970 in Mississippi, and its exhibits are drawn from that state's own civil rights struggle. Its founding was pushed by Hattiesburg native Iola Williams, one of the project's key promoters, and by state Senator John Horhn, who introduced funding bills from 2000 onward. Horhn calls it the first state-sponsored civil rights museum in the United States.
The museum is run by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History and opened on December 9, 2017, so check current opening days before travelling. Allow several hours: the exhibits cover the years 1945 to 1970 in sequence, and the galleries are best followed in order rather than entered midway.
The museum opened on December 9, 2017, and is run by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. State Senator John Horhn calls it the first state-sponsored civil rights museum in the United States. Its galleries cover the years 1945 to 1970.
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