The sculpture in the “This Little Light of Mine” space glows brighter as more people come into the room. Credit: Stephen Wilson
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will tell the story of the state’s checkered past through artifacts, exhibits and more. Members of the media took a tour of the civil-rights museum and Museum of Mississippi History for Media Day on Nov. 7, 2017.
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History cover 15,000 years of the state’s history and also contains through artifacts, exhibits and educational programs. Members of the media took a tour of the museums for Media Day on Nov. 7, 2017.
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will have exhibits that tell the story of the state’s checkered past with civil rights. Members of the media toured the civil-rights museum and the Museum of Mississippi History for Media Day on Nov. 7, 2017.
The Museum of Mississippi History gives insight into how people in the state once lived.
The Museum of Mississippi History’s exhibits include examples of clothing, pottery, weaving and more from the state’s Native American tribes, including the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
The Museum of Mississippi History includes relics from the state’s past, including ones that explore aspects such as the state’s railroad history.
Along with the state’s history, the Museum of Mississippi History has exhibits that explore the state’smusic and literary history.
At the end of the tour through the Museum of Mississippi History, guests can stand on a balcony that overlooks the “One Mississippi, Many Stories” display.
This winter, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and Museum of Mississippi History will open in downtown Jackson. Credit: Imani Khayyam
Mugshots of Freedom Riders line the walls of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Credit: Imani Khayyam
On, Nov 7, 2017, the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum held a media tour of the two museums opening on, Dec 9, 2017.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.