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.

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.

Tracy Sugarman - Courtesy Laurie Sugarman-Whittier

Tracy Sugarman

Illustrator Tracy Sugarman returned from the battles of World War II to record the "faces of postwar America." He felt "the mounting urgency of the racial crisis" and volunteered for the Summer Project in 1964. Along with hundreds of students and professionals, he attended the nonviolent training workshop at the Western College for Women in Oxford, Ohio. Sugarman spent the summer working on voter registration in Ruleville, where he became good friends with Fannie Lou Hamer. His Freedom Summer sketches appeared in various news magazines and the CBS news documentary, "How Beautiful on the Mountains." In 1966, Sugarman published Stranger at the Gates, a memoir of his experiences. 

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 Civil Rights Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer Civil Rights MuseumMuseum dedicated to Fannie Lou Hamer and other civil rights heroes

17150 US HWY 49
Belzoni, Mississippi

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