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.

Dr. Aaron Shirley

Dr. Aaron Shirley

Growing up, Aaron Shirley recalled Mississippi’s African Americans having limited access to adequate hospitals and healthcare. After graduating from Meharry Medical College, Shirley returned home to accept a position as a resident of the University of Mississippi Medical Center—becoming the first African American to hold the position at the facility. Throughout his tenure, Shirley worked tirelessly as both a physician and civil rights activist to help improve healthcare for African Americans in the state. He cofounded the Jackson-Hinds Comprehensive Healthcare Center in 1970 and created a partnership with Jackson State University, Tougaloo College, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center to form the Jackson Medical Mall in the late 1990s.

Hazel Brannon Smith - Wilson “Bill” Minor Papers, Manuscripts Division, Mississippi State University Libraries

Hazel Brannon Smith

Hazel Brannon Smith earned a Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on race as editor/owner of the Lexington Advertiser. Smith wrote that all races "should have the same protection of the laws and courts." She condemned the Citizens’ Council "Gestapo" tactics. The Holmes County Citizens’ Council boycotted her paper and pressured the local hospital to fire her husband. In 1960, local teens burned a cross on her lawn. In 1961, she criticized the police attack on Tougaloo Nine supporters. She hosted Movement activists and printed their materials. In 1964, her Jackson newspaper office was bombed. Huge debts caused by the boycott forced her to declare bankruptcy. 

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.

Jacqueline House African American Museum

Celebrates the rich legacy of African Americans in Warren County, Mississippi

1325 Main Street
Vicksburg, Mississipp 

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Fannie Lou Hamer Institute @ COFO

COFO Trail MarkerA human and civil rights interdisciplinary education center at Jackson State University

1017 John R. Lynch Street
Jackson, Mississippi

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