Museum of Mississippi History

Jackson, Miss.—Faith-affiliated communities in Mississippi—groups who attend churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, house churches, and more—may now visit the Two Mississippi Museums for free with groups of 10 or more persons.

Groups making reservations at least two weeks in advance may receive the added benefit of an in-depth overview of the museums by a museum guide during their visit.

These free group visits are made possible thanks to a $2.5 million grant awarded by Lilly Endowment Inc. to the Foundation for Mississippi History to help the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) support and promote programs, activities, and projects focused on the understanding and interpretation of the role of religion in Mississippi history and culture.

Additionally, support from Lilly Endowment will enable MDAH to broaden its audience and engage them in new ways by providing a 35 percent discount to faith-affiliated entities for facility rentals.

Lilly Endowment made the grant through its Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative, a nationwide effort to help museums and other cultural institutions improve the public’s understanding of religion.

“We are grateful to Lilly Endowment for this major support,” said Katie Blount, MDAH director. “Lilly Endowment’s generosity will help more Mississippians experience these outstanding museums.” 

The Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum both address the history of religion. From the spiritual beliefs of Native Americans to the conflicting religious convictions of slaveholders and enslaved people, to the leadership of people of faith during the Civil Rights Movement, religion has been integral to the development of Mississippi.

“Museums and cultural institutions are trusted organizations and play an important role in teaching the American public about the world around them,” said Christopher Coble, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for religion. “These organizations will use the grants to help visitors understand and appreciate the significant impact religion has had and continues to have on society in the United States and around the globe. Our hope is that these efforts will promote greater knowledge about and respect for people of diverse religious traditions.”

Lilly endowment Inc. is an Indianapolis-based, private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J. K. Lilly and his sons, Eli and J.K. Jr., through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, the Endowment is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff, and location. In keeping with its founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education, and religion. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.

For more information about faith-affiliated group visits please call 601-576-6850, or visit, https://2mm.mdah.ms.gov/visit/group-visit to make a reservation.

For more information about rentals at the Two Mississippi Museums please call 601-576-6850, or email, trice@mdah.ms.gov.

Pamela D. C. Junior, director of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, has announced her retirement. In 2017, Junior was named the inaugural director of the first state-sponsored civil rights museum in the nation, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. She came to the role after serving as director of the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center for seventeen years. In 2019, she was promoted to director of the Two Mississippi Museums, where she continued the work of sharing the stories of Mississippi told in the Museum of the Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museums. 

MDAH director Katie Blount said, “Pam Junior came to MDAH with deep roots and credibility in the community, many years of experience in the museum field, and a commitment to excellence that she modeled for younger staff. She personally led many thousands of visitors through the museums, enriching their experience through her passion for history and her boundless charisma. In our first years, Pam Junior lifted-up the Two Mississippi Museums and shared them with the world. We are grateful.” 

Highlights during Junior’s service include participating in the retirement of the 1894 Mississippi state flag at the official retirement ceremony in 2020 and guiding the late Congressman John Lewis through the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—events she counts as major personal milestones. In 2018, she spearheaded MLK Jr. Day programming with fellow museum staff and added the MLK Night of Culture in 2019, just two of the highly attended annual events at the museums. 

“Pamela is a woman who knows that she did not travel her road alone, but on the shoulders of those who came before her,” said civil rights leader Myrlie Evers. “Pamela is imbued with the fortitude, wisdom, and faith of her grandmother, mother, mentors, and civil rights veterans. Her leadership reflects her commitment to Mississippi and the honest telling of our history.” 

After graduating from Jackson State University, where Junior received a BS in education, with a minor in special education, she joined the National Park Service in 1990 as a ranger in Washington, DC. Nearly a decade later, she returned to Jackson to work for the city’s Parks and Recreation Department.  

In 1999, Junior was hired as the manager of the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, where she became co-coordinator of the National Arts Program and acquired on permanent loan the Smithsonian traveling exhibition Field to Factory: The Afro-American Migration, 1915–1940.   

Junior has been honored over the years for both her professional and community work and received numerous awards, such as the Freedom Rider Award from the Mississippi Freedom 50th Foundation, the For My People Award from the Margaret Walker Center at Jackson State University, the Hometown Hero Award from the Jackson Convention and Visitors Bureau, and the Museum Leadership Award by the Association of African American Museums. She was inducted into the Mississippi Tourism Hall of Fame.  

Junior will continue to serve the community as a board member for Visit Jackson and an advisory board member for the Mississippi Book Festival. She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum.   

Jackson, Miss. — Registration is open for the summer 2023 History Exploration and Freedom School camps at the Two Mississippi Museums. 

Thanks to a $30,000 grant from the Geneviève McMillan-Reba Stewart Foundation, the Two Mississippi Museums added an additional camp session and kept registration fees affordable for families at $75 per student. 

"Having campers in summer 2022 brought incredible energy to the Two Mississippi Museums, and we look forward to expanding the upcoming 2023 sessions thanks to the Geneviève McMillan-Reba Stewart Foundation,” said Mississippi Department of Archives and History director Katie Blount. "Last year students enjoyed fun and engaging activities while encountering important stories from Mississippi’s history."  

History Exploration Camp is for students heading into fourth and fifth grades. Campers will explore themes such as archaeology, architecture, transportation, civil rights, and music. In addition to exhibits at the Two Mississippi Museums, students will enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour of the collections, special guest speakers, and visits to other historic sites in Jackson. History Exploration Camp sessions are June 12-16 and June 26-30. 

Freedom School Camp is for students heading into sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, where campers will deepen their understanding of the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi and its impact on the world through stories of local heroes in their communities. The grant from the McMillan-Stewart Foundation will cover costs for additional technology to support camper research projects. Students will visit historic sites throughout Jackson. Freedom School Camp is held for two consecutive weeks, July 10-21. 

These summer camps are sponsored by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. 

Learn more or register by visiting https://2mm.mdah.ms.gov/learn/families-communities.                                                                                                                           

The family-oriented traveling exhibit Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See will open on Saturday, April 1, at the Two Mississippi Museums and run through Sunday, May 14, 2023.   

Emmett Till was visiting Mississippi from his home in Chicago in 1955 when he was tortured and murdered for whistling at a White woman.

Developed by the Till family, Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, Emmett Till Interpretive Center, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, the exhibit shares how a mother’s bravery and fight for justice more than six decades ago fueled the Civil Rights Movement in America. 

“Through this exhibition, we invite people to bear witness to the painful history of racial violence in the United States, and to explore the transformative actions of a grieving mother,” said Pamela D.C. Junior, director of the Two Mississippi Museums.   

“Learning more about Emmett Till’s story is difficult, but I believe it’s crucial for families to understand what happened during the cruel and senseless tragedy to help people heal from prejudice and discrimination and to prevent senseless acts of violence today,” said Jennifer Pace Robinson, president and CEO, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See will close on Sunday, May 14, and then travel to the DuSable Museum of African American History in Illinois, Atlanta History Center in Georgia, and National Civil Rights Museum in Tennessee before reaching its permanent destination at the Emmett Till Interpretive Center in Sumner, Mississippi. This exhibit is recommended for ages ten and up. 

The Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, a non-profit organization, is engaged in research and social justice advocacy. It is dedicated to preserving the memory and historical significance of the life and death of Emmett Till, and preserving the social action legacy of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley. For more information about the Till Institute, visit www.tillinstitute.org.

The Emmett Till Interpretive Center was formed to confront the brutal truth of the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in the Mississippi Delta and to seek justice for the Till family and Delta community. The Center aims to tell the story of Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis is a nonprofit institution committed to creating extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences, and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families. For more information about The Children’s Museum, visit www.childrensmuseum.org.

This project was made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy Demands Wisdom, the Maddox Foundation in Hernando, the Institute for Museum and Library Services [MH-249226-OMS-21], and the Historic Preservation Fund administered by the National Park Service, Department of the Interior [15.904].

Museum hours are Tuesday–Saturday, 9 a.m.–5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. The Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—Two Mississippi Museums—are located at 222 North Street in Jackson. For more call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov.  

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) and the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life (ISJL) will hold the Mississippi Freedom Seder on March 28, 2023, at 6 p.m. at the Two Mississippi Museums. Inspired by the 1969 Freedom Seder, where hundreds of people of all backgrounds gathered to explore and celebrate freedom in the context of the Civil Rights Movement, this communal event invites participants to the Passover table for an evening of commemoration, stories, and community.  

“We are pleased to co-host this Freedom Seder with our community partners,” said Katie Blount, MDAH director.  “In doing so, we remember the courage of visiting Jewish Freedom Summer volunteers in 1964 and Jewish Mississippians who advocated for racial equality in the Civil Rights Movement.”   

 “Our Mississippi Freedom Seder in 2019 brought our communities together for conversation and reflection,” said Michele Schipper, CEO of the ISJL. “We are excited to co-host this event again and tell these Mississippi stories.”

This program will feature original music from Lapidus & Myles, a collaboration between Rabbi Micah Lapidus and Mississippi native Melvin K. Myles.

Passover is an eight-day Jewish holiday, referred to as the “festival of freedom.” Passover celebrates the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. The traditional meal, where the story of Passover is shared along with rituals, readings, songs, and food, is called a Seder. Seders celebrate freedom from bondage and freedom from oppression, providing a shared communal celebration of freedom and friendship for all.   

At the first Freedom Seder, held on April 4, 1969, more than 800 people gathered in a church in Washington, DC, to commemorate the first anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. Using the words of the traditional Passover Seder, calling for justice, peace, and liberation, the 1969 Freedom Seder strengthened Black and Jewish community relations and established a touchstone for contemporary Seders.  

This participatory program will include a Passover meal. All are welcome and invited to join us in honoring this historic tradition.  

Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for youth and are available here. For more information, call 601-576-6800 or email info@twomississippimuseums.com.

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