Join us on Sunday, December 26, at 5:30 p.m. in the Craig H. Neilsen Auditorium of the Two Mississippi Museums for our annual Kwanzaa celebration co-sponsored with the Women for Progress of Mississippi, Inc. For more information, email mail@womenforprogress.net or visit the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Facebook page.
MDAH received the Southeastern Museums Conference's Gold Award for its recent exhibition Mississippi Distilled: Prohibition, Piety, and Politics. The Gold Award was presented in the over $100,000 budget category and recognizes museums that showcase exhibitions of merit that are well designed, have educational value, and treat the objects with care and respect. Exhibitions were judged by an appointed jury of museum professionals across the region who specialize in curatorial studies and exhibition design.
Mississippi Distilled was an immersive exhibit that explored the state’s tumultuous relationship with alcohol from the colonial period to today. It featured fascinating artifacts, enticing stories, and surprising images that took visitors on a journey. The exhibition ran from July 7, 2020, through June 26, 2021.
Award winners were celebrated at SEMC's 2021 annual meeting in Chattanooga, Tennessee. MDAH staff members pictured above are, on the front row (from left) Nan Prince, Jessica O'Connor, and Madeleine Miller; and, on the back row (from left), Sam Butz, Tony Schnadelbach, Barbara McClendon, Shane Keil, and Megan Bankston.
In observance of New Year’s Day, The Two Mississippi Museums, Eudora Welty House & Garden, and Grand Village of the Natchez Indians will close early at 3 p.m. on Friday, December 31, and be closed on Saturday, January 1. The Nissan Cafe by Nick Wallace Culinary at the Two Mississippi Museums will be closed through Sunday, January 2.
The archives library will be closed Friday, December 31–Saturday, January 1.
Visit www.mdah.ms.gov/explore-mississippi for more information about each site.
On Saturday, November 20, join us for the Holiday Open House at the Mississippi Museum Store. The come-and-go event is free and open to the public from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Enjoy samples from Mississippi vendors, special sale prices on select merchandise, artist and maker meet-and-greet opportunities, and additional discounts for museum members.
Nick Wallace Culinary will provide tasty food samplings, and other local vendors will also offer delicious treats.
The event includes book signings, custom hand-written invitations and ornaments, complimentary gift packaging, and a 10 percent discount on all merchandise. Museum members will receive a 20 percent discount on store items. Become a museum member online at give2mississippimuseums.com or purchase a membership during the event.
The Mississippi Museum Store offers one of the state’s finest collections of folk art, local handmade crafts, and books by and about Mississippians. Find unique holiday gifts for everyone on your list this year at the Mississippi Museum Store while visiting with local artists and makers. Shop artisan-made items for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Highlighted merchandise includes Walter Anderson prints, Wolfe Studio birds, Harold Miller sculptures, and Shearwater Pottery. Other Mississippi-made products featured in the store are candles, jewelry, gourmet products, museum souvenirs, newly-designed Mississippi state flag merchandise, and much more.
The Mississippi Museum Store at the Two Mississippi Museums is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The museums open free of charge on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. are located at 222 North Street in Jackson. Call 601-576-6921 or email store@mdah.ms.gov for more information.
Enjoy free live music, holiday decorations, and treats during the 2021 MDAH Christmas by Candlelight Tour. In addition to the traditional features of the tour—shuttle buses, model train exhibit—this year's event will coincide with the City of Jackson's Capital City Lights, the kickoff event of the city's year-long bicentennial celebration.
On Friday, December 3, enjoy free live music, holiday decorations, and treats during the 2021 Christmas by Candlelight Tour. In addition to the traditional features of the tour—shuttle buses, model train exhibit—this year's event will coincide with the City of Jackson's Capital City Lights, the kickoff event of the city's year-long bicentennial celebration.
The Mississippi State Capitol and four MDAH sites will be open and sporting holiday decorations: the Mississippi Governor's Mansion, the grounds of the Old Capitol Museum, Museum of Mississippi History, and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Park and take advantage of the shuttle buses running between sites, walk or drive and come and go on your own schedule. The Candlelight tour takes place from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. Capital City Lights will continue with additional activities, including shopping at two outdoor markets, Magnolia Marketplace and JXN Flea, classic cars, emergency vehicles set up in touch-a-truck style, live music, hot chocolate, caroling, marching bands, holiday décor, and of course…LIGHTS!
Governor Tate Reeves and First Lady Elee Reeves will welcome visitors to the Mississippi Governor's Mansion, along with Santa. The model town of Possum Ridge and its trains will be displayed on the second floor of the Two Mississippi Museums—the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum—and the Mississippi Museum Store will be open. The museums will also feature a sixteen-foot Christmas tree. The Old Capitol Museum will be decorated and lit, and choirs will perform on the grounds. A jazz ensemble will perform at the Mississippi State Capitol, which will be decorated and open for tours.
On November 28, 1821, the Mississippi Legislature designated LeFleur's Bluff as the site of the state capitol. Jackson's first map was completed in April 1822 and consisted of the areas between High and South Streets and between Jefferson and West Streets.
The legislature incorporated the town and named Jackson the county seat of Hinds County in 1822. The Mississippi Legislature first met in Jackson on December 23, 1822 in a nonextant structure. In 1839, legislators began convening in a newly-built statehouse, which now serves as the Old Capitol Museum. The current Mississippi State Capitol was completed in 1903.
The Capital City Lights planning committee consists of members of City of Jackson, MDAH, GJAC, Visit Jackson, Downtown Jackson Partners, local hoteliers, retailers and residents.
For more information about the Christmas by Candlelight Tour, call 601-576-6850 or email info@mdah.ms.gov. For more information about Capital City Lights, email J. David Lewis at jdlewis@city.jackson.ms.us.
The Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum are partnering with the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mississippi Veterans Affairs, and Mississippi War Veterans Memorial Commission to honor Mississippians who serve and have served in the United States Armed Forces. The event begins at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 10, on the Entergy Mississippi Plaza in front of the Two Mississippi Museums. COVID-19 precautions will be in place.
“Mississippi’s extraordinary record of military service is one of the most inspiring stories that we share in the Two Mississippi Museums,” said MDAH director Katie Blount. “We are pleased to join with our military service organizations to pay special tribute to all the many Mississippians who have served our country.”
The program will include a performance by the 41st Army Band, a moment of silence, recognition of the veterans in attendance, memorial volley, wreath laying, and a keynote speech delivered by Major General Janson D. Boyles—the Adjutant General of the Mississippi National Guard. The museums are offering free admission to those currently serving in the military, veterans, and a family member of a veteran on November 10. The museums open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The museums open free of charge on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 601-540-2794 or email Colonel Allen McDaniel at amcdaniel@ngams.org.
Enjoy food and beverage samples from some of Mississippi's best. Join us for book signings, food and beverage samplings, artist and maker meet-and-greet opportunities and shop holiday specials at the Mississippi Museum Store--including a 10% discount on all merchandise. Museum members will receive a 20% discount on store items.
MDAH is partnering with the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mississippi Veterans Affairs, and Mississippi War Veterans Memorial Commission to honor Mississippians who serve and have served in the United States Armed Forces. The program will take place on the Entergy Mississippi Plaza in front of the Two Mississippi Museums under COVID-19 precautions.
Spend a day as an archaeologist at the Two Mississippi Museums! Learn how to clean authentic artifacts excavated in Mississippi, view different aspects of Native American culture, try your hand at reconstructing a broken modern vessel, use stone tools to shave a deer hide, and learn more about the early peoples of Mississippi through guided tours of archaeological exhibits in the Museum of Mississippi History. For more information, visit the Museum of Mississippi History Facebook page.