As the birthplace of American popular music and the center of the Civil Rights movement, Mississippi is rich in cultural history. In the past few years, several world-class museums have popped up throughout the Magnolia State, showcasing the state's wealth of artistic accomplishment as well as its history of racial oppression, along with celebrating the strength of those who helped to overcome it. In honor of our Back-to-School issue, here are five reasons to take a Mississippi road trip and learn about the artists and activists who helped shape the nation into what it is today.
The Community Gallery "Made in Mississippi" wall.Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience
Meridian, Mississippi, is home of the state's newest museum, the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience, aka the MAX. Opened in April, the museum's exhibit design blends elements of interactive technology with related artifacts. The first level of the museum is home to the Hall of Fame, celebrating 18 of the state's cultural stars - writer John Grisham, actor Morgan Freeman, puppeteer Jim Henson, entertainer Oprah Winfrey, and more. The floor also includes two art studios, a recording studio and a changing exhibition gallery. The upper level is focused on the people, places and institutions that inspired Mississippi's artists.
A re-creation of King's home studio is seen at the B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center
Surrounding an early 20th century cotton gin, the 20,000-square-foot B.B. King Museum & Delta Interpretive Center celebrates the life and work of blues musician B.B. King, as well as the music and history of the Mississippi Delta through rare artifacts, film and interactive exhibits. Be sure to pay your respects before you leave. King was buried on the grounds after his death in 2015.
GRAMMY Museum exteriorGRAMMY Museum Mississippi
While it includes many similar exhibits and artifacts as its sister museum, the original GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles, the GRAMMY Museum in Cleveland, Mississippi, focuses more on the artists from the Mississippi Delta and their impact on the music industry. The museum covers artists from all time periods, with interactive exhibits and musicians' clothing and instruments displayed. A temporary exhibit featuring Motown legends The Supremes, the first in a series of exhibits celebrating Motown's impact on American music and culture, runs through Sept. 3. It includes rare photographs and costumes the trio wore for appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in the late '60s and early '70s from the private collection of founding member Mary Wilson. Another temporary exhibit, on display Aug. 29 through Sept. 3, celebrates 13-time GRAMMY winner Michael Jackson on the 35th anniversary of the release of "Thriller," which nabbed the Album of the Year GRAMMY in 1983.
Mississippi Civil Rights MuseumMississippi Civil Rights Museum
In the state capitol of Jackson, you'll find the new Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, which opened in December of last year. Its eight interactive galleries show the systematic oppression faced by black Mississippians, and highlight their strength and the sacrifices they made from the Civil War and Reconstruction era to the Civil Rights movement to the present day. A highlight is a gallery in the museum's center, "This Little Light of Mine," which features a sculpture whose glow brightens along with the increasing volume of music from the Civil Rights movement as the number of people surrounding the exhibit swells.
Mississippi Book Festival
Nostalgic for that back-to-school trip to the bookstore to load up on textbooks for fall classes, minus the several-hundred-dollar price tag? If you happen to be in Jackson on Aug. 18, the Mississippi Book Festival, aka the “literary lawn party,” is a free festival featuring more than 150 authors and 45 literary panels, held on the grounds of the Mississippi State Capitol from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The lineup includes Mississippi natives and writers significant to the state’s history, such as Jerry Mitchell, an investigative reporter for Jackson’s daily newspaper, The Clarion-Ledger, who exposed corruption in the state and helped put four Klansmen behind bars. Nationally and internationally well-known figures will also be in attendance, including Salman Rushdie, who won The Man Booker Prize for “Midnight’s Children”; Pulitzer Prize-winning presidential historian Jon Meacham; George W. Bush chief strategist Karl Rove; and Julie Murphy, author of No. 1 New York Times Bestseller “Dumplin’”, soon to be a movie starring Jennifer Aniston, with an original soundtrack by Dolly Parton.