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.

Rabbi Perry Nussbaum - Photo courtesy American Jewish Archives

Rabbi Perry Nussbaum

A Toronto native, Rabbi Perry Nussbaum came to Jackson’s Beth Israel Congregation in 1954. He spoke out against segregation in his sermons, despite a congregation that largely remained silent. In 1961, Nussbaum was moved by the sacrifice of the young Freedom Riders, if not entirely in favor of their methods. Since about a third of the Riders were Jewish, he tried to organize the state’s rabbis to visit them at Parchman, but none agreed. So each week he drove north to Sunflower County to deliver personal items and cigarettes, and he led a short worship service. In 1964, he organized the Committee of Concern, which raised money to rebuild Black churches. As a result of his activism, Rabbi Nussbaum’s temple and home were bombed. 

Eudora Welty - Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ds-07842

Eudora Welty

Immediately upon learning of the assassination of Medgar Evers, Eudora Welty responded with a powerful story—its title asked, “Where Is the Voice Coming From?” The Jackson native had worked as a WPA junior publicity agent during the Depression, and while traveling for the WPA, she photographed people in her home state. Her fiction captured the culture, including the racial climate, of Natchez, the Delta, and other Mississippi locales. In her story, “The Demonstrators,” she described the murders of two Black people in a Delta town, noting what little impact the deaths had on White people. In “Where Is the Voice Coming From,” Welty wrote from the perspective of the killer (then unknown).

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.

Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home

Medgar and Mylie Evers HouseHome and assassination site of famed civil rights activist

2332 Margaret Walker Alexander Dr.
Jackson, Mississippi 

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Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial Garden

Fannie Lou Hamer Memorial GardenDedicated to the memory and legacy of famed civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer

929 Byron Street
Ruleville, Mississippi

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