Mississippi Museums offer so much to today’s patrons. You can sit comfortably and watch a video depicting history, community, and artifacts with audio descriptions; you can research (on-site and online) documents, artifacts, and history. You can engage in an interactive interpretive center, experience hands-on activities, or take a class with a local or regional artist. But if you are not able to actually enter the front door of a museum due to a hardship or disability, you may be surprised to find that many museums today offer virtual walkthroughs, online pictorial exhibitions of their collections, or online tours (some require appointments). Do not hesitate to call a museum and ask about the accessibility of their exhibitions and collections. In fact, ask if that offer may be a possibility or if they are planning an immersion experience such as the one currently on exhibit at the WNDR Museum in Boston. Check it out: https://wndrmuseum.com/
An entire population of people in Mississippi and other cities cannot travel to museums. Be aware that museums today understand the importance of being accessible. Museums in the 21st century have figured out how to bring exhibitions, collections, history and culture into the home and classroom. For example, you can tour the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion by visiting their website and taking a walkthrough that allows you to use your computer, and a virtual tour is just a click away. Try it out and see for yourself: https://map.threshold360.com/8185175
Richelle and I wanted to add virtual links in our book, A Guide to Mississippi Museums. However, we realized that posting a few examples in an article on this website would better serve our purpose and pique your curiosity. Here are a few examples showing how museum exhibits and collections have become accessible:
The American Heritage “Big Red” Fire Museum in Louisville, MS, has an online documentary that WLBT Television produced. It tells their story: https://www.wlbt.com/story/32441151/look-around-mississippi-louisville-fire-museum/
The work of Craig and Elaine Vechnorik’s Bench Mark Works LLC Motorcycle Museum in Sturgis is to restore old vintage BMW motorcycles. You can check out the museum online at www.benchmarkworks.com to view some of the vintage motorcycles from the collection.
The Catfish Row Museum in Vicksburg is a vibrant place where live performances, panel discussions, lectures, special events, programs, hands-on workshops, and exhibits engage visitors. There is an accessible online tour of their exhibits at: https://cloud.threshold360.com/locations/8448793-629496761
The Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Museum in Jackson hosts current exhibits, traveling exhibitions, and outdoor sculptures that are seen throughout the community. Some of the items in their collection can be viewed online.
You can visit the permanent collection of paintings, photography, quilts, textiles, sculptures, works on paper, etc. , online at the Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson) website: https://mma.emuseum.com/collections
The Medgar Evers Interpretive area in the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, Jackson, is impressive. In addition, the museum offers an accessible online virtual tour: (https://cloud.threshold360.com/locations/Smith-Robertson-Museum-b3f27918)
Frank and Virginia Williams Collection of Lincolniana Gallery at Mississippi State University, Starkville, has newspaper articles, magazines, journals, original letters, and legal documents that reference Abraham Lincoln. The collection has been cataloged and is available for research. The collection documents the entire life and work of Abraham Lincoln. The collection also documents the life of Frank Williams. There is so much to learn about this collection. It is accessible to researchers around the world. There are plans for the collection to be digitized and made available online.
Consider exploring the John Grisham Room at Mississippi State University (MSU) in Starkville by visiting the online virtual tour portal. The link is on MSU’s website.
The NASA John C. Stennis Space Center, Pearlington, website hosts over 150 pictures making it accessible for anyone not able to take a trip to the site: https://npplan.com/parks-by-state/tennessee/shiloh-national-military-park-park-at-a-glance/shiloh-national-military-park-visitor-centers/shiloh-national-military-park-corinth-civil-war-interpretive-center/
Take a virtual tour of the Old Depot Museum in Vicksburg to get a glimpse inside: https://visitvicksburg.com/old-depot-museum
You will find the David M. Robinson Memorial Collection/Elizabeth and Will Galtney Wing at the University of Mississippi Museum, Oxford. There is a collection that all Mississippians can be proud of because it is one of the finest in the south and even in the nation. They have Roman copies of famous Greek works of art – pottery dating back to 300 AD, architectural fragments, inscribed Sumerian cuneiform tablets, small works of terra cotta and bronze, and hundreds of Greek and Roman coins. The museum also hosts current exhibits, traveling exhibitions, and outdoor sculptures that are seen throughout the community. Some of the items in the university’s collection can be viewed online: https://museum.olemiss.edu/online-collections/
The War Memorial Building honors the lost soldiers and gives a brief history of our country. The building’s architecture is amazing. The two-story edifice has a courtyard and outdoor sculptures of World War I doughboys. A virtual tour reveals marble walls and a large auditorium for presentations: https://www.visitjackson.com/directory/war-memorial-building/
A few of the museums that host virtual tours and field trips, primarily by appointment, are:
- Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale
- Lauren Rogers Museum, Laurel
- Mississippi Children’s Museum, Meridian
- Two Mississippi Museums, Jackson (Mississippi History and Civil Rights)
- USS Cairo, Vicksburg
- Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg
Corinth Civil War Interpretive Center, Corinth
The center’s website hosts over 150 pictures, making it accessible to anyone who is not able to take a trip to the site. (https://npplan.com/parks-by-state/tennessee/shiloh-national-military-park-park-at-a-glance/shiloh-national-military-park-visitor-centers/shiloh-national-military-park-corinth-civil-war-interpretive-center/)
This article in no way exhausts all the possibilities. The experiences in Mississippi Museums are endless.
feature photo by Florian Pircher on Pixabay