Toys & Games
In the Cold War lesson, students had seven seconds to grab five of these from a table to stock a fallout shelter.
What are supplies? (flashlight, food, items, etc.)
This Mississippi-born music genre, born from gospel and Delta blues carried north during the Great Migration, is what the Motown sound was built on.
What are the blues?
Binoculars. Key Chain. Pocket Calendar. Money Clip. Pen. These are some items that were found in another item owned by Medgar Evers that is actually NOT on display. You might find yourself doing homework at one of these in the future.
What is a desk?
This Mississippi sharecropper from Sunflower County said, "I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired."
Who is Fannie Lou Hamer?
As a NASA astronaut, he was the Lunar Module Pilot on the famous, but troubled, Apollo 13 mission that had to turn back to Earth.
Who is Fred Haise?
In the Red Scare lesson game, the students holding papers with this shape inside were the "communists."
What is an X?
This Temptations song from 1964 — the Motown anchor track in camp — uses extended metaphor compliments like "you're the sweetest thing this side of heaven."
What is "The Way You Do The Things You Do?"
In the Red Scare / Citizens' Council lessons, this everyday clothing item was pointed to as the visual signature of the "uptown Klan" — men who wore respectability as their disguise.
What is a necktie?
The sentence written on the board during the Cold War lesson, referenced again in the Red Scare and Citizens' Council lessons — completes this way: "Americans are afraid. And fear is a powerful _____."
What is a tool/weapon?
A famous journalist and leader who wrote newspaper articles to stand up against unfair treatment and fought for the rights of women to vote.
Who is Ida B. Wells?
This plastic doll, introduced in 1959, had her own house, her own car, and her own boyfriend named Ken.
Who is Barbie?
This 1960 dance hit by Chubby Checker got its name from the twisting motion of the dancer's hips — no partner required.
What is "The Twist?"
History isn't just in books; it's captured in moments like the one in this photo of the Tougaloo Nine, frozen in time by this classic device.
What is a camera?
Writing about the Woolworth's counter sit-in in her 1968 memoir, this Tougaloo student and activist described staying at the counter while the mob beat her.
Who is Anne Moody?
Born into slavery, he later became the second African American to serve as a U.S. Senator, but the first to complete a full term from 1875-1881.
Who is Blanche Kelso Bruce?
This twisting plastic toy hoop, introduced in 1958, was still a playground staple in the 1960s — and if you couldn't keep it on your hips, everyone laughed.
What is a hula hoop?
Before Dr. King arrived in Memphis in 1968, this civil rights anthem — adapted from an old gospel hymn — was the song most sung at sit-ins, Freedom Rides, and marches across the South.
What is "We Shall Overcome?"
In Gallery 5, Freedom Riders in Parchman Prison were given this as a food item, however they created unlikely objects, such as a chess board, to pass the time.
What is bread?
In Gallery 5, the wall quote that names the entire gallery — "This is a tremor in the middle of the iceberg, from a stone that the builders rejected" — came from this SNCC organizer.
Who is Bob Moses?
A trailblazer in the courtroom, she became the first African American woman to serve as a judge in the state of Mississippi.
Who is Constance Slaughter-Harvey?
This 1964 toy let kids build tiny towers and houses out of connected bricks. It came in a red, blue, and yellow box.
What are LEGOs?
This 1964 Beatles song, inspired by the band's first trip to America, has the chorus "she loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah."
What is "She Loves You?"
In Gallery 5, this full-scale vehicle sits inside the gallery, marked with mugshots and reminders of what happened to Freedom Riders who boarded integrated buses across state lines in 1961.
What is a paddy wagon?
This activist is very famous for his phrase, "If you don't vote, you don't count." You might have seen his wrecked truck in Gallery 7 (Black Empowerment) in the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
Who is Vernon Dahmer?
A teacher and singer from Mississippi, she used music and her voice to spread a message of joy, peace, and love for all people.
Who is Sister Thea Bowman?