Louis Morgan had an experience over the weekend that most historians would love to have – and one he believes all Mississippians should experience.
The Morgantown native and director of library services at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., attended the opening of two museums in Jackson: the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. He and his mother, Mary Ann Morgan, traveled to both the donor’s reception on Friday night and the opening of the museums on Saturday and spent about three hours touring them.
Morgan describes the $109 million facilities as required viewing for all residents.
“I think everybody in Mississippi should go see each of the museums,” he said. “I hope that children can go and interact with information and artifacts that are on display. They are very well done. It really is something for Mississippians to be proud of because it tells our story, and it is Mississippians telling our story, not somebody else.”
An array of dignitaries helped open the museums, led by President Donald Trump, who flew to Mississippi Saturday morning to tour the museums and gave a speech praising them to a private audience inside the museum before the main ribbon cutting outside.
The museums are located together in downtown Jackson.
“You walk in and there is a foyer and auditorium with a gift shop,” Morgan said. “Then there is a seating area. On the left side is the Mississippi History Museum and on the right side is the Civil Rights Museum. They are joined together by the foyer, but they are separate museums.”
Morgan said both museums impressed him, but that the Civil Rights Museum stood out.
“It is almost overwhelming with the amount of information and artifacts that you see. Both are so well put together. They said it was over $90 million in state funds and $19 million in private donations for the whole thing,” he said. “One of the things that really catches your attention in the Civil Rights Museum is that they have a wall with panels front and back to get into a different section. It progresses through the time periods, but these panels have the dates and the names and the places and accusations for people who were lynched. It is really powerful.
“They also have a line across the floor and it’s a color line. If you happen to step across from one side to the other, there will be a flashing light and you’ll hear a recording that’s kind of a loud accusation that you would have heard had you crossed the color lines in years past.”
A lot of original artifacts help bring the museum to life, according to Morgan, so much so that it brought Morgan to tears at times.
“There’s audio, a lot of video and there’s one place that you go into a church and there is a video that is very powerful,” he said. “You see video recordings of people who were Freedom Riders, and you hear them talk and reflect on their time.”
In another location, tourists head into a mock school.
“It’s called the Tippo School,” Morgan said. “It was so interesting to me because my great-grandmother was born in Tippo. It’s up in the Mississippi Delta region. You walk in the one-room school and you see a broken line. What it shows you is that even after Plessy vs. Ferguson, which was separate but equal, the schools weren’t separate but equal. You see what a black school would have been like and what a white school would have been like. There’s an informational recording in there that walks you through it. It tells of the disparity in the schools until integration.”
The museum has several sections, including a wing that includes items from current times, but the main focus goes through the 1970s, according to Morgan.
“You hear spiritual singing – songs that would have been sung during the Civil Rights movement. It’s just very powerful. They have the rifle that killed Medgar Evers on display there. It is encased in glass,” he said. “One of the highlights to me was getting to see, talk and interact with Myrlie Evers on Friday night. She’s the widow of Medgar Evers, who was assassinated in 1963. She and her children were in the house when he was shot under the carport.”
Morgan then transitioned across to the Museum of Mississippi History.
“You see different scenes throughout the state,” he said. “Morgan Freeman’s voice is narrating one of the first videos you see. The museum walks you through the days of the Native Americans through contemporary times. You weave your way around and learn how Mississippi’s statehood came about, you learn about major social and political leaders in the state. There is a section on the Civil War, you learn about the women’s suffrage movement and so much more. You see videos all throughout where people are being interviewed and are telling their stories. The theme is kind of ‘One Mississippi; Many Stories.’”
The arts and music also play a prominent role.
“There is a section in there that they call the Juke Joint,” Morgan said. “You can go in and listen to music by Mississippians and see video of some of them singing. It takes you through the 200 years, well even more than 200 years, of Mississippi.”
Pictured Above: Louis Morgan poses with Myrlie Evers last Friday night at the Civil Rights Museum. | : Submitted Photo
