Since its opening in December of 2017, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum has drawn both Mississippi and non-Mississippi residents, including the president himself, to its doors. With eight diverse and interactive galleries, the museum transports its visitors to the past in order to spur a desire for social change in the present.

Prep seniors from Mrs. McKibben’s AP Government classes and juniors from the AP and College Prep United States History classes visted the museum on March 29. Teachers and students saw this opportunity as a way for students to appreciate the history of their own state as it relates to the social and political changes in the United States mentioned in their curricula from this year.

After lunch, students drove downtown to meet their teachers in the museum lobby, soon breaking up into several smaller groups to make their ways through the galleries.

The museum’s impressive lighting and design included a number of small theaters that shared the influence of various topics such as the murder of Emmett Till, Brown v. Board of Education, and Freedom Summer on the Civil Rights Movement, specifically its influence on the movement in Mississippi.

With so much information on display, the galleries hardly let the eye grow bored. Senior and AP Government student Gregory Vance agreed saying, “My favorite part was probably right before the exit where they showed quotes from many different people, past and present, about what they want to stand for and what those things mean to them. I just thought it was incredible because the answers weren’t all that different, no matter the time period.”