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.

Staughton Lynd - Photo by Herbert Randall, Herbert Randall Freedom Summer Photographs, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi

Staughton Lynd

"Education is above all a meeting between people." Spelman College history professor Staughton Lynd likened Freedom Schools to a guerilla army, living within the community. He wanted the heart of curriculum to stem from questions taken from each student’s most immediate experience of housing, employment, and education, and work outward to questions such as: "What is it like for Negroes who go North? What are the myths of our society about the Negro’s past? What in Mississippi keeps us from getting the things we want?" The curriculum emphasized building student self-esteem and included units on "The Power Structure," the history of the Freedom Movement, and nonviolence.

James D. Lynch

Reverend James D. Lynch

A native of Baltimore, Rev. James D. Lynch served as a missionary for the A.M.E. Church in South Carolina and Georgia during the war, helping to establish Black schools and churches. In 1868, he brought his missionary work to Mississippi, but soon realized that political rights were also critical to Black freedmen. Lynch became one of the founders of Mississippi’s Republican Party and served as its first vice president. In 1869, he won election as Mississippi Secretary of State, the first African American to hold that office. After leaving office in 1870, Lynch helped to establish Shaw University, now Rust College, in Holly Springs.

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.

Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center

Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural CenterMuseum housed in the first public school for African Americans in Jackson in 1894

528 Bloom Street
Jackson, Mississippi 

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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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