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. T.R.M. Howard - Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-135350

Dr. T.R.M. Howard

A charismatic leader, Dr. T.R.M. Howard came to Mound Bayou in the 1940s to serve as chief surgeon at the Knights and Daughters of Tabor Hospital. He also owned a plantation and the Magnolia Mutual Insurance Company. In 1951, Howard founded the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL) in Cleveland. Hosting national figures like Thurgood Marshall and Mahalia Jackson, Howard drew thousands to rallies at his plantation. The RCNL called for voter registration and “first class citizenship for Negroes in Mississippi.” Howard spoke out against police brutality and started a boycott of gas stations that did not provide restrooms for Black people.

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.

Reverend George Lee Museum

Fannie Lou Hamer Civil Rights MuseumMuseum dedicated to Reverend George Lee and other civil rights heroes.

17150 US HWY 49
Belzoni, Mississippi

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Alcorn State University

Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn State University is the oldest public historically black land-grant institution in the United States and the second-oldest state-supported institution of higher learning in Mississippi. It was founded in 1871 to educate the descendants of formerly enslaved Mississippians.

1000 Alcorn Avenue
Lorman, Mississippi

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