JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum (MCRM) placed fourth in USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Awards contest for Best History Museum in the United States. MCRM placed among 20 prestigious American museums, such as the Heinz History Center, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Cincinnati History Museum among others.

The MCRM stated that USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Award first nominated MCRM in the fall of 2023. The online contest ran January 15 through February 12, with contest rules allowing the public to vote online for one nominee per category, per day.

“We are honored that the museum placed so high in the 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Award Contest for Best History Museum,” said Michael Morris, director of the Two Mississippi Museums of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH). “We are grateful for this national recognition of excellence.”

Visitors to MCRM are greeted with a timeline of African American history in Mississippi before moving to interactive exhibits that chronicle the vents of Mississippi’s Civil Rights Movement, from World War II through 1975.

The museum embraces complex stories and tells them with unflinching academic rigor, engaging visitors with the deeply witnessed truths of historic records, artifacts, and archival photographs and footage.

Visitors learn the stories of Mississippians like Medgar Evers, James Meredith, Fannie Lou Hamer, Joan Trumpauer Mullholland, and Vernon Dahmer and stories of those who traveled miles to walk beside them in the journey toward equality.

“Our organization commends the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), Director Michael Morris, and his team for receiving this national recognition as USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Travel Award for Best History Museum; each visit to MCRM is an enjoyable trip down the Civil Rights Movement that will have you truly feeling like you were a part of the journey,” said Demetrius Johnson Jr., HCF Founder, President & CEO. “Since learning about MCRM, it has been my favorite museum that I always will have to load up the vehicle and make a trip to every once in a while. We love the MCRM at HCF and are so proud of this honor for them.”

The Two Mississippi Museum – the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum – located in downtown Jackson opened in December 2017. The Mississippi Legislature funded construction of the $100 million complex along with generous support from private donors.

Check out the full list and learn about the past at the 10 best history museums in the US here.

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