Mississippi Civil Rights Museum

in 1961, in protest of civil rights activist Brenda Travis’ arrest, students at the local Burglund High School in McComb, Mississippi, walked out and participated in a demonstration outside McComb City Hall. At a young age, Travis joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and was expelled from Burglund High for her activism. Learn more about Travis and the movement in McComb at the Two Mississippi Museums.

Join us for a free screening of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wing?” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, October 18 at the Two Mississippi Museums. This documentary explores the life and career of Virginia Wing, a Chinese American actress from Marks, Mississippi. Through interviews with her family and friends as well as archival footage and present-day scenes, the film follows Virginia as she reconnects with her Mississippi roots and reflects on her career in theater, film, and television from the 1960s to the present. Learn more at the link in bio.

Happy birthday Rep. Robert G. Clark Jr.! A native of Ebenezer, Mississippi, and the first African American elected to the Mississippi Legislature since Reconstruction, Clark was a supporter of the creation of the Two Mississippi Museums and served on the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Advisory Commission. Learn more about Clark at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum!

Join us for our last “Mississippi Made” gallery talk at the Two Mississippi Museums at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 15! In connection with America250, this free family-friendly event will highlight Mississippi’s legacy in entertainment. JoAnn Gordon, the film commissioner for the Canton Movie Museums, will focus on Canton as the film capital of Mississippi. Malika Polk-Lee, executive director of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, will focus on B.B. King’s legacy in the blues scene. Learn more at the link in bio!

Happy birthday, Carol Ruth Silver! In 1961, Silver and other Freedom Riders such as Joan Trumpauer Mullholland and Hezekiah Watkins were arrested in Jackson, Mississippi, and sent to Parchman Penitentiary. Silver made this chess set using bread, saliva, blood, and other materials available to her while she was imprisoned at Parchman. View this set in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

Carol Ruth Silver Collection (T/040), Tougaloo College Civil Rights Collection.

Mark your calendars! There's a lot to look forward to this month at the Two Mississippi Museums and we're excited for you to join us! For more information about any of our events, please see our event page on our website! https://bit.ly/4gQa2RT

Always good to have our friends and longtime supporters from Toyota USA visit the Two Mississippi Museums! We’re grateful for their continued commitment to preserving and sharing Mississippi’s history!

Join us at noon on Wednesday, September 30, for the inaugural Bob Moses Lecture Series during at the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum!

Charles Payne, Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of African American Studies at Rutgers University-Newark, will explore how civil rights activist Ella Baker influenced Moses’s approach to organizing, from his work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to the founding of the Algebra Project. This free event will also stream live on the MDAH page and YouTube channel. Copies of "I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition and the Mississippi Freedom Struggle" will be available for purchase, and a book signing will follow.