MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
222 NORTH STREET
JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

HOURS
TUESDAY–SATURDAY  9AM–5PM
SUNDAY 11AM–5PM

Explore the Galleries

Explore the movement that changed the nation. Discover stories of Mississippians like Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Vernon Dahmer, as well as those who traveled many miles to stand beside them, come what may, in the name of equal rights for all.

Explore the Galleries at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

Points of Light

The Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi is full of ordinary men and women who refused to sit silently while their brothers and sisters were denied their basic freedoms. A number of these heroes are featured throughout the museum as Points of Light, shining exemplars of dignity, strength, and perseverance in the face of oppression.

Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce - Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, HABS DC,WASH,399--1

Senator Blanche Kelso Bruce

Blanche Kelso Bruce rose from slavery to the US Senate. Born a Virginia slave, Bruce was taught by his young master’s tutor. He left his master at the beginning of the Civil War and moved to Hannibal, Missouri, where he taught school briefly before continuing his education at Oberlin College in Ohio. After the war, Bruce worked on a Mississippi steamer for a year before settling in Bolivar County, where he became a successful planter. Active in Republican state politics, Bruce served as sheriff and tax collector (1872-1875), before the state legislature elected him to the US Senate, the first African American to serve a full term (1875-1881).

Coach Babe McCarthy

Game of Change

In 1963, Mississippi State University defied segregationists by playing Loyola in the NCAA basketball tournament. Coach Babe McCarthy’s Bulldogs qualified by winning their fourth SEC title. In previous years—1959, 1961, and 1962—they had not competed because the tournament included integrated teams. MSU president Dean W. Calvard supported the team. MSU students burned an effigy of Governor Ross Barnett for his opposition. State Senator Billy Mitts got a court injunction to keep them from playing, but the team left the state for the tournament before it could be served. The state Supreme Court later threw out the injunction.

Explore Mississippi

Many of the homes, colleges, and historic sites discussed in this gallery still exist today. Journey beyond the museum walls and explore the places where history happened.

Corinth Contraband Camp

Corinth Contraband CampEstablished to accommodate enslaved people who fled to safety during the Civil War

800 North Parkway Street
Corinth, Mississippi 

Visit Website

Forks of the Road Slave Market

The Forks of the Road Slave Market at NatchezLocation of the second-largest slave market in the Deep South

232 St. Catherine Street
Natchez, Mississippi

Visit Website