Submitted by the Two Mississippi Museums
An exhibit leads into the central gallery (right) at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Photo by Rory Doyle
Each February, Black History Month invites us to reflect not only on the achievements of African Americans, but also on the struggles, resilience, and courage that shaped those achievements.
Few places in Mississippi are a more powerful setting for that reflection than the Two Mississippi Museums — the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum — where Black history is not confined to a single month but brought to life every day.
Opened in December 2017 as a Smithsonian-affiliated complex under the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), the Two Mississippi Museums use immersive exhibits to examine Mississippi’s past. In both museums, exhibits demonstrate that Black history is Mississippi history, a central thread running through the state’s identity.
Visiting the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum can be an emotional experience. Its exhibits chronicle the violence, resistance, and determination that defined the Civil Rights movement. Visitors encounter the stories of ordinary Mississippians who performed extraordinary acts of courage: students who marched, ministers who organized, and families who opened their homes despite constant threats. Artifacts, photographs, and multimedia displays ensure that names like Medgar Evers, Fannie Lou Hamer, and countless others are not just remembered, but understood in the context of their time and sacrifice.
Next door, the Museum of Mississippi History provides a broader framework that makes those stories even more meaningful. It explores how slavery laid the economic and social foundations of the state, how Black Mississippians built institutions in the aftermath of emancipation, and how segregation shaped daily life for generations. Exhibits highlight Black entrepreneurship, education, music, and faith — reminding visitors that Black history is not only about struggle, but also about creativity, leadership, and community building.
In both museums, religion appears as a powerful force shaping Black history, from enslaved peoples’ faith traditions to churches leading civil rights activism. Exhibits show how spiritual belief sustained resilience, organized communities, inspired resistance, and fueled movements for dignity, justice, education, and social transformation across Mississippi history today.
In December 2022, Lilly Endowment Inc. awarded a $2.5 million grant to MDAH for the department’s work that advances public understanding of religion in Mississippi. The MDAH Religion Initiative aims to attract more visitors to the Two Mississippi Museums, to make archival holdings related to religion more accessible to the public, and to make improvements to two historic sites related to religion.
As part of this initiative, church groups or other religiously affiliated organizations of 10 or more can now visit the Two Mississippi Museums for free. The initiative also provides religiously affiliated groups an opportunity to use the event space at a discounted rate, including a large auditorium in between the two museums that could be ideal for a church banquet, pastor’s conference, or other events.
For information on how to schedule a free visit to the Two Mississippi Museums for your church group, call 601-576-6902 or email twommgrouptours@mdah.ms.gov. For information on discounted event rentals for faith-based organizations, call 601-576-3810 or email eventrentals@mdah.ms.gov.