Archives: Events

WGN America's Underground Railroad thriller "Underground," among the most widely praised series of the year and the network's most-watched original program ever, will be honored by the city of Memphis as Mayor Jim Strickland officially declares Tuesday, May 10 "Underground Day," kicking off day-long celebrations throughout the city. To thank fans and the city of […]

The Ruby Bridges Reading Festival celebrates Bridges' legacy of passionately advocating for equal rights, education and tolerance across backgrounds by bringing together children and families from the Mid- South across racial, economic and educational background around reading. BOOK GIVEAWAYS for children grades pre-K through elementary and their families. CHILDREN'S ACTIVITIES include face painting, balloon animals, […]

You are invited to celebrate the vibrant history of the Lorraine Motel for the benefit of the National Civil Rights Museum. Step back in time with an evening of food, music and fun reminiscent of the Lorraine Motel – which counted B.B. King, Nat King Cole, "Count" Basie, Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & the […]

Author Aram Goudsouzian chronicles the story of the 1966 March Against Fear and the iconic call for Black Power by civil rights activists Stokely Carmichael. Goudsouzian's presentation is during the 50th anniversary of the March that began June 1966. His book Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March Against Fear […]

The National Civil Rights Museum is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March Against Fear on Saturday, June 11, at 12:00pm with a symbolic march concluding with a Rally Against Fear in the museum's courtyard. Civil rights activist James Meredith, the first African American to integrate Ole Miss and the initiator of the March Against […]

CALL FOR ENTRY DEADLINE IS August 1, 2016!!! Now is the time to use your voice. Let it be known what you stand for. "And Justice for All." May the art form of poetry be your outlet to express yourself, because your voice matters. Come out from the blanket of social media and make your […]

Help us celebrate! The Memphis Redbirds and the National Civil Rights Museum have announced a partnership that will center around a celebration of the Museum's 25th anniversary at the Redbirds' game on Friday, Aug. 12 at 7:05 p.m. at AutoZone Park. This year's game will be focused on celebrating the Museum's 25th anniversary and will […]

In 1808, America abolished the international slave trade, ending the export of people from the African continent to the Americas. The domestic slave trade, however— the buying and selling of slaves within the U.S.—continued until the close of the Civil War in 1865. During those 57 years between 1808 and 1865, an estimated one million […]

In 1962, boxing writers and fans considered Cassius Clay an obnoxious self-promoter, and few believed that he would become the heavyweight champion of the world. But Malcolm X, the most famous minister in the Nation of Islam—a sect many white Americans deemed a hate cult—saw the potential in Clay, not just for boxing greatness, but […]

Amidst the proliferation of recent scholarship on the slave trade, the lives of slave traders themselves remain largely a mystery. In this presentation, Joshua Rothman takes a biographical approach to Isaac Franklin (a Tennessee native), John Armfield, and Rice Ballard, who collectively built the most successful slave-trading firm of the nineteenth century and forged the […]

Help us celebrate 25 Years of History! Since 1991, the Freedom award has honored distinguished individuals who have made great global and national impact. These men and women are lauded for their work in the struggle for civil and human rights. This year's honorees are Benjamin Crump, civil rights attorney; Tawakkol Karman, Yemeni human rights […]

Using the testimony of formerly enslaved individuals, Stephanie Jones-Rogers explores white women's economic relationships to slavery and the slave trade. The talk highlights three groups of women who profited from their commercial ties to the nineteenth-century American slave trade. It examines the commercial activities of several female slave traders. It explores the experiences of women […]