The Mississippi Humanities Council created the traveling exhibit “A More Perfect Union: Mississippi Founders,” highlighting twelve Mississippians who fought to extend full citizenship rights to all people. Since Mississippi was not part of the U.S. until 1795 or a state until 1817, our state’s narrative has not been directly connected to the story of 1776 and the country’s founding. And yet, if we conceive of the founding as an active, ongoing process in which America struggled to fulfill the ideals of the Declaration and Constitution, Mississippi is at the heart of the story. This exhibit celebrates the men and women who fought to create a society and government that fulfilled the ideals of America.
It includes panels on Ida B. Wells-Barnett, John Roy Lynch, Thomas W. Stringer, Fannie Lou Hamer, Annie Devine, Lawrence Guyot, Aaron Henry, Unita Blackwell, Clarie Collins Harvey, Amzie Moore, Medgar Evers, and Vernon Dahmer. Each of these heroes were also featured in short interstitials broadcast on Mississippi Public Television.
The “Mississippi Founders” exhibit is available to host sites for free. Consisting of thirteen standalone cloth panels, 7 ft. by 3 ft. each, the exhibit can be set up to fit in a wide array of different spaces. The exhibit is perfect for libraries, schools, museums, and community centers. Each host site is encouraged to use the MHC Speakers Bureau to present public programs while the exhibit is up.
If you’d like to host the More Perfect Union: Mississippi Founders exhibit, contact John Spann at jspann@mhc.state.ms.us