Museums in Mississippi
If going to a museum is your idea of a good time, you're in luck. Mississippi museums are plentiful and located throughout the state.
Cleveland is home to the GRAMMY Museum, the first outside of Los Angeles, and honours all the award winners who came to the Magnolia State which is steeped in music. The two interconnected museums - Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum - In Jackson opened in celebration of the state’s bicentennial. The Two Mississippi Museums is a place where Mississippians tell their own stories of the state’s rich and complex history. They present the history of the state as never before with eye-popping artifacts, photographs, videos and so many interactive exhibits.
Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, Jackson
The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum includes the papers and artifacts of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, the doors of the Bryant Grocery that 14-year-old Emmett Till walked through before his fateful encounter with the shopkeeper that led to his murder; a series of lighted columns that display the name of every known lynching victim in the state - more than 600 individuals; and a dramatic two-story "This Little Light of Mine" sculpture that celebrates the hope of the Civil Rights Movement in song and light.
Museum of Mississippi History, Jackson
The Museum of Mississippi History's theme - One Mississippi, Many Stories - runs throughout galleries that include a 500-year-old Native American dugout canoe discovered submerged in mud on the bank of a Mississippi lake, author Eudora Welty's manual typewriter and a recreated Delta juke joint that hops to the sounds of Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Bo Diddley.
GRAMMY Museum Mississippi, Cleveland
The first and only GRAMMY Museum outside Los Angeles is located in Cleveland, Mississippi and anticipated to be one of the most technologically advanced music-themed museums as the new facility explores Mississippi's deep musical roots. The museum highlights the impact on modern music, as well as celebrate a broad range of musical styles recognised by the GRAMMY Awards such as pop, rock, jazz, hip-hop, classical and gospel. On display are instruments, stage costumes and videos. Mono To Surround allows visitors to hear the evolution of sound through a custom listening experience while History Of Dance features a touch-sensitive, multi-coloured dance floor and dance tutorial video. Exhibits such as Mississippi Music Legends, Mississippi Music Bar and Mississippi Music Trail And Timeline will explore the state's musical history and unique culture. Other exhibits explore subjects such as song writing, producing and the history of the guitar.
Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience, Meridian
Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience is a 60,000-square-foot museum dedicated to the state’s musicians, actors, writers and other creative artists. The MAX showcases the roots of Mississippi’s most famous contributors to the arts with state-of-the-art interactive exhibits. From Tupelo’s Elvis, to Indianola’s B.B. King, to Pascagoula’s Jimmy Buffett, to Meridian’s own “King of Country Music” Jimmie Rodgers, the stories and works of every artist from every region of the state can be explored at the MAX.
Mississippi Blues Trail, Statewide
The Mississippi Blues Trail is a statewide outdoor museum that rambles through cities and small towns and along rural roads, it includes cafes and juke joints, birth sites and gravesites, depots and plantation farms. Blues markers explain each location's role in blues history. Along the trail you'll find B.B. King's birthplace in Berclair, the Riverside Hotel; a hospital-turned-hotel in Clarksdale where Bessie Smith died after a car accident.
Museums in Clarksdale, Mississippi
Visit Clarksdale and tour the Delta Blues Museum, where you can hear music, watch videos and see unique artwork that is a tribute to the famous Mississippi Delta blues musicians, including King of the Delta Blues Robert Johnson. Established in 1979 and re-ogranised as a stand-alone museum in 1999, the Delta Blues Museum is the oldest music museum in Mississippi. Since 1999 the museum has been housed in the historic Clarksdale freight depot, which was a designated Mississippi Landmark in 1996. The museum is home to travelling and permanent exhibits, please visit deltabluesmuseum.org for a calendar of events. The Delta Blues Museum also has their own stage which serves local festivals such as the Sunflower River and Blues festival in August and the Juke Joint Festival in April.
Museums in Indianola, Mississippi
In Indianola, visit the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Centre. Its state-of-the-art films, interactive exhibits, artefacts and activities tell of the rich cultural heritage of the Mississippi Delta and the life of bluesman BB King. Just a few miles from Indianola is Leland, the boyhood home of Jim Henson, creator of Kermit the Frog and the Muppets. Check out the exhibit there and don’t miss the Highway 61 Blues Museum for even more Delta blues.
Museums in Jackson, Mississippi
Explore Jackson, and visit the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Centre, an African-American history museum which celebrates African-American heritage and arts.
The Mississippi Museum of Art, also in downtown Jackson, features art that tells the story of Mississippi along with fascinating exhibits from all over the world.
Visitors to the Old Capitol Museum are welcomed with a video introducing them to the museum adn the exhibits that explore what it was like before 1839; prior to the construction of the building and it's history over the last 170 years, showcasing the importance of historic preservation. Open 9-5 Tuesday to Saturday & 1-5 on Sunday free of charge.
Jimmie Rodgers Museum in Meridian, Mississippi
Jimmie Rodgers, also known as the father of country music and famous for songs such as "Mississippi Delta Blues", was bought up in Meridian, Mississippi and is now honoured at the Jimmie Rodgers Museum which is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–4pm.
