Mississippi Civil Rights Museum | Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

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. James W. Silver

Shocked by the riot at Ole Miss in 1962, which he witnessed, and offended by the state’s attempt to blame federal marshals, history professor James W. Silver set the record straight in Mississippi: A Closed Society. Silver condemned Citizens’ Council tactics and White supremacy. He compared the state to a totalitarian regime, where White supremacists defined the agenda and crushed opposing voices. For this efforts, Silver became, "the most hated White man in Mississippi." The Citizens’ Council campaigned to have him fired. Silver remained until 1965, when he took leave to teach at the University of Notre Dame. He never returned.

Dr. A.H. McCoy

Physician and astute businessman A.H. McCoy owned a dental practice, two movie theaters and the Security Life Insurance Company of the South, and helped establish the Farish Street Business District in downtown Jackson, which became the hub of the Civil Rights Movement. McCoy worked diligently within the movement, serving as president of the Mississippi Chapter of the NAACP in the 1950s and providing financial backing for equal rights campaigns that helped to uplift African Americans disenfranchised by the Jim Crow South. In 1984, the federal building in downtown Jackson was named for McCoy, making it the first federal building in the nation to be named in honor of an African American.

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.