Public Screening of An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland on Aug. 11
A free, public screening of An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland will be held Sunday, Aug. 11, at 2 p.m. in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums.
Mulholland’s son, Loki, directed the film about his mother’s civil rights activism. Both are scheduled to attend the screening, which is part of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s monthly Sunday Screening series.
“Joan Trumpauer Mulholland’s experience during the Mississippi Movement is something we can all learn from and be inspired by,” said Michael Morris, director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the Museum of Mississippi History. “Screening this film is an opportunity reflect on her contributions and share her story with new audiences."
In 1961, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, then 19, had participated in more than three dozen protests and was incarcerated on death row at the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman after joining the Freedom Rides. Upon her release, she enrolled at the historically Black Tougaloo College, becoming the first White woman to do so.
Mulholland served as the secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was a central figure of the Woolworth Sit-in in Jackson, Mississippi. By the time she was 23, she had participated in more than 50 sit-ins and demonstrations, including the March on Washington, the Meredith March Against Fear, and the Selma to Montgomery March.
Joan Trumpauer Mulholland was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in Arlington, Virginia. She worked at the Smithsonian Institution, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Justice Department and taught English as a second language.
In 2023, Mulholland was awarded an honorary doctorate from Tougaloo College. She is the recipient of the 2020 Simeon Booker Award for Courage, the 2019 International Civil Rights Museum Trailblazer Award, and the 2015 National Civil Rights Museum Freedom Award.
Loki Mulholland is an Emmy-winning filmmaker, author and activist. He is the author of “She Stood for Freedom” and “Get Back to the Counter.” His films include “An Ordinary Hero: The True Story of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland,” “Black, White & Us,” and “The Evers.”
The Two Mississippi Museums opened Dec. 9, 2017, in celebration of the state's bicentennial. Museum hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.– 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.– 5 p.m. The Two Mississippi Museums are located at 222 North St. in Jackson. For more information, visit the MDAH Facebook page or email info@mdah.ms.gov.