Experience the Mississippi Freedom Trail – Visit Mississippi https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/freedom-trail/ The State for Wanderers Mon, 19 Jan 2026 20:17:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://visitmississippi.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/cropped-Favicon-01-32x32.png Experience the Mississippi Freedom Trail – Visit Mississippi https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/freedom-trail/ 32 32 Mississippi Freedom Trail – Marks Mule Train and Poor People’s https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-marks-mule-train-and-poor-peoples/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-marks-mule-train-and-poor-peoples/ In March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. visited Marks to get support for a Poor People’s Campaign. King envisioned a march that would begin with mule and wagon trains in Mississippi before converging on Washington, D.C. The mule train eventually […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Marks Mule Train and Poor People’s appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> In March 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. visited Marks to get support for a Poor People’s Campaign. King envisioned a march that would begin with mule and wagon trains in Mississippi before converging on Washington, D.C. The mule train eventually left Marks on May 13 in inclement weather, which resulted in participants seeking other transportation methods.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Marks Mule Train and Poor People’s appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Dorie and Joyce Ladner https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-dorie-and-joyce-ladner/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:12 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-dorie-and-joyce-ladner/ Sisters Dorie and Joyce Ladner were community leaders during the civil rights movement. As teenagers, they joined the NAACP Youth Council and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and were mentored by civil rights leaders Vernon Dahmer, Clyde Kennard, and Medgar […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Dorie and Joyce Ladner appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Sisters Dorie and Joyce Ladner were community leaders during the civil rights movement. As teenagers, they joined the NAACP Youth Council and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and were mentored by civil rights leaders Vernon Dahmer, Clyde Kennard, and Medgar Evers.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Dorie and Joyce Ladner appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Bryant’s Grocery https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-bryants-grocery/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-bryants-grocery/ The Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker is located in Money, about nine miles north of Greenwood. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till came to this site to buy candy in August 1955. White shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant accused the black youth of flirting with her, […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Bryant’s Grocery appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> The Mississippi Freedom Trail Marker is located in Money, about nine miles north of Greenwood. Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till came to this site to buy candy in August 1955. White shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant accused the black youth of flirting with her, and shortly thereafter, Till was abducted by Bryant’s husband and half-brother. Till’s tortured body was later found in the Tallahatchie River. The two men were tried and acquitted, but later sold their murder confession to Look magazine. Till’s death received international attention and is widely credited with sparking the American Civil Rights Movement.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Bryant’s Grocery appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Fannie Lou Hamer https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-fannie-lou-hamer/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-fannie-lou-hamer/ Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer earned a reputation as an electrifying speaker, especially as a delegate of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She is known for her signature line, ” I’m sick and […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Fannie Lou Hamer appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer earned a reputation as an electrifying speaker, especially as a delegate of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. She is known for her signature line, ” I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Fannie Lou Hamer appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Amzie Moore Home https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-amzie-moore-home/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-amzie-moore-home/ Moore dedicated himself to the civil rights movement, co-founding the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. His home served as a meeting place for many in the civil rights movement, including Bob Moses, Sam Block, Aaron Henry, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Amzie Moore Home appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Moore dedicated himself to the civil rights movement, co-founding the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. His home served as a meeting place for many in the civil rights movement, including Bob Moses, Sam Block, Aaron Henry, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King, Jr., Andrew Young, John Lewis and Thurgood Marshall.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Amzie Moore Home appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – T. R .M. Howard https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-t-r-m-howard/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-t-r-m-howard/ Mound Bayou businessman and physician, Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, founded and led Mississippi’s pre-eminent civil rights organization in the 1950s, the Regional Council of Negro Leadership. […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – T. R .M. Howard appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mound Bayou businessman and physician, Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard, founded and led Mississippi’s pre-eminent civil rights organization in the 1950s, the Regional Council of Negro Leadership.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – T. R .M. Howard appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – “Black Power” Speech https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-black-power-speech/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-black-power-speech/ On June 16, 1966, SNCC chairman Stokely Carmichael made his famous “Black Power” speech here to an agitated crowd of about 600. As Carmichael shouted five times, “We want black power!” the crowd became more and more enthusiastic. […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – “Black Power” Speech appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> On June 16, 1966, SNCC chairman Stokely Carmichael made his famous “Black Power” speech here to an agitated crowd of about 600. As Carmichael shouted five times, “We want black power!” the crowd became more and more enthusiastic.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – “Black Power” Speech appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – The Reverend George Lee https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-the-reverend-george-lee/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-the-reverend-george-lee/ The Reverend George Lee was a vice president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, a co-founder of the Belzoni NAACP branch, and a powerful public speaker. In the spring of 1955, he addressed a crowd of 10,000 gathered at […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – The Reverend George Lee appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> The Reverend George Lee was a vice president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, a co-founder of the Belzoni NAACP branch, and a powerful public speaker. In the spring of 1955, he addressed a crowd of 10,000 gathered at a Mound Bayou voter registration rally.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – The Reverend George Lee appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – William Chapel https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-william-chapel/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-william-chapel/ The historic William Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, established in 1922, was a longtime meeting place for civil rights activists before the organization of the modern civil rights movement. […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – William Chapel appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> The historic William Chapel Missionary Baptist Church, established in 1922, was a longtime meeting place for civil rights activists before the organization of the modern civil rights movement.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – William Chapel appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Aaron Henry https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-aaron-henry/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-aaron-henry/ Clarksdale pharmacist, Aaron Henry, was a major early grassroots activist in the civil rights movement. As the local NAACP president, he led a local business boycott campaign, during which he was arrested and his home and pharmacy firebombed. […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Aaron Henry appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Clarksdale pharmacist, Aaron Henry, was a major early grassroots activist in the civil rights movement. As the local NAACP president, he led a local business boycott campaign, during which he was arrested and his home and pharmacy firebombed.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Aaron Henry appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Unita Blackwell https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-unita-blackwell/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:34 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-unita-blackwell/ Unita Blackwell was born in a sharecropper’s shack in Lula, Mississippi, on March 18, 1933. She would become an SNCC activist in 1964, representing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Unita Blackwell appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Unita Blackwell was born in a sharecropper’s shack in Lula, Mississippi, on March 18, 1933. She would become an SNCC activist in 1964, representing the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Unita Blackwell appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Mississippi Freedom Trail – Benjamin Murph https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/cultural-trails/mississippi-freedom-trail-benjamin-murph/ Tue, 30 Jul 2024 19:13:12 +0000 https://visitmississippi.org/things-to-do/%poi_type%/mississippi-freedom-trail-benjamin-murph/ Benjamin Ellery Murph, a dentist and civil rights leader, was the charter vice president of the Laurel-Jones County NAACP in 1947 before becoming president four years later. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Murph expanded youth councils throughout Jones County, held […]

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Benjamin Murph appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]> Benjamin Ellery Murph, a dentist and civil rights leader, was the charter vice president of the Laurel-Jones County NAACP in 1947 before becoming president four years later. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Murph expanded youth councils throughout Jones County, held voter registration drives, and traveled the country spreading the message of the NAACP.

The post Mississippi Freedom Trail – Benjamin Murph appeared first on Visit Mississippi.

]]>