Between 2026 and 2028, MHC is partnering with four communities per year to design and establish commemorative sites of memory, both physical and virtual, that reflect the local history of the Civil Rights Movement and the broader struggle for freedom in Mississippi. This program will highlight stories of local people and places too often left out of the national narrative. Each selected community will receive direct project support to carry out their vision. Communities will also be encouraged to apply to the MHC for grant support for public programs related to their site of memory.
About the Project
Witness: The Freedom Memory Project builds on the Council’s longstanding work to preserve the history of the state’s freedom struggle. MHC is partnering with SIPP Culture, Red Squared Media, Von Gordon, and local communities to develop monuments that center their stories. Working closely with community partners, artists, and historians, MHC will collaborate with these communities to design and implement projects that could include:
- Public art installations or monuments
- Mississippi Freedom Trail markers
- Exhibits or local archives
- Digital storytelling and oral history projects
Who Can Apply
Eligible applicants include community-based organizations, cultural institutions, schools, churches, grassroots groups, local governments, and other not-for-profit organizations. We especially encourage collaboration between organizations. Strong applications will demonstrate community support, local partnerships, and a clear vision for how their site will educate and inspire.
How to Apply
- Reference the “Helpful Materials” section and view the webinar
- Contact MHC Director of Strategic Initiatives John Spann (jspann@mhc.state.ms.us) and Program Officer MiMi Bishop (mbishop@mhc.state.ms.us) to discuss your community’s idea.
- Fill out the Witness: The Mississippi Freedom Project application by November 16, 2026.
All applications will be reviewed by the project’s advisory board. The 2027 cohort of communities will be announced by January 2027.
Full details and 2027 applicant materials are available at https://forms.gle/wnCmwgmwxX6EgMWR7.
The 2028 applications will be announced at a later date.
Helpful Materials:
- General Overview Video (from January 2026’s webinar)
- General Overview PowerPoint (from January 2026’s webinar)
- jspann@mhc.state.ms.us (Director of Strategic Initiatives John Spann)
- mbishop@mhc.state.ms.us (Program Officer MiMi Bishop)
2026 Witness: The Freedom Memory Project Cohort
- Drew – Located in the Mississippi Delta, We2gether Creating Change plans to memorialize the history of the 1969 federal lawsuit that forced the town’s final phase of public-school integration.
- Jackson – Located in Central Mississippi, The LeFleur’s Bluff Chapter of The Links, Incorporated will memorialize the work of Womanpower Unlimited and its impact in the state during the Civil Rights Movement.
- McComb – Located in Southwest Mississippi, the Black History Gallery will create a site of memory that will honor student protests and local civil rights heroes.
- Moss Point – Located in the Gulf Coast region of Mississippi, Jabali Preservation Inc. will memorialize the town’s role as one of Freedom Summer’s most active organizing hubs during the Civil Rights Movement.
Members of the Advisory Committee Include:
Rev. Reginald Buckley
Executive Pastor of Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
Dr. Daphne Chamberlain
Chair of the Department of History and Philosophy at Jackson State University
Dr. Roy DeBerry
Civil Rights Activist and Founder / CEO of the Mississippi Hill Country Project
W. Ralph Eubanks
Author, Essayist, Faculty Fellow and Writer in Residence at the University of Mississippi
Dr. Robert Luckett Jr.
Professor of History and Director of the Margaret Walker Center and COFO Civil Rights Education Center at Jackson State University
Dr. Ebony Lumumba
Chair, Associate Professor of English Department of English and Modern Languages at Jackson State University
Dr. Leslie B. McLemore
Civil Rights Activist, Chair of the Mississippi Freedom Trail Taskforce
Michael Morris
Director of the Two Mississippi Museums
Dr. Castel Sweet
Director of Community Engagement & Assistant Professor of Practice in Community Engagement at the University of Mississippi
Carlton Turner
Co-Director / Lead Artist at Mississippi Center for Cultural Production
Dr. Rebecca Tuuri
Associate professor of history at the University of Southern Mississippi