The Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum are open today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. And admission is free in honor of Dr. King.
The museums will open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Safety precautions at museums include requiring all visitors to wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines.
Then at 6 p.m. today the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will present the annual MLK Night of Culture program
The event will air livestream on the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum Facebook page. Writer and poet C. Leigh McInnis will headline the event, which includes live painting, music, and spoken word performances by local artists. This year’s theme is “I Am a Man,” a declaration of the 1968 Memphis sanitation strikers. King joined activists Rev. James Lawson, T.O. Jones, and others in support of the sanitation strike.
“We are grateful to FedEx Corporation for their continued support of our annual Martin Luther King Jr. celebration,” said Katie Blount, director of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. “Their generosity allows us to invite the public to safely celebrate Dr. King’s life at the museums and through virtual programming.”
Dr. King’s involvement in Mississippi includes attending the funeral of NAACP state field secretary Medgar Evers in 1963, visiting Greenwood in support of Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, and testifying in support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) during the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
For more information, call 601-576-6800 or visit twomississippimuseums.com.
