FROM MDAH RELEASES — In the summer of 1964 hundreds of northern college students, most of them white, joined with local African Americans in communities across Mississippi to register voters, conduct Freedom Schools, and promote civil rights. Beginning in June MDAH will mark the fiftieth anniversary of Freedom Summer with an original exhibit at the Winter Building, diverse programming at its sites, and an address at the Old Capitol by an icon of the Civil Rights Movement.

On Monday, June 2, Dr. Robert P. Moses will give the keynote address for the 2014 Medgar Wiley Evers Lecture Series. A leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and co-director of the Council of Federated Organizations, Moses became a principal organizer of the Freedom Summer Project. He was also instrumental in establishing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party that would challenge Mississippi’s all-white delegation at the Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in the fall of 1964. Continue reading

FROM MDAH NEWS RELEASES – Mississippi governor Phil Bryant and other state officials were joined by representatives from Entergy Corporation to announce a $1 million donation for the 2 Mississippi Museums project on Thursday, May 1. The funds will be used by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for exhibits in the Museum of Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

“Our company’s history has been intertwined with the state’s history for 90 years and our future will be as well,” said Haley Fisackerly, Entergy Mississippi president. “We’re pleased and proud to be a part of preserving our state’s rich history and sharing it with the world. The museums will be the ultimate tourism destination for visitors interested in the many facets of the Mississippi story.”

Leo Denault, Entergy Corporation chairman of the board and chief executive officer, and Fisackerly presented the $1 million check at the construction site in downtown Jackson to Governor Bryant, former governor William Winter, and MDAH Trustee Reuben Anderson, who accepted the gift on behalf of the state and the museums. Continue reading