PHOTO EXHIBITION at Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center
The City of Jackson’s Department of Human & Cultural Services and Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center present Mound Bayou: The Promise Land – 1887-2010, which is the first comprehensive photographic exhibition depicting life after Emancipation in the town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi. The exhibition is open to the public NOW through June 30, 2010.
Mound Bayou: The Promise Land – 1887-2010 showcases historic and contemporary accounts of struggle and prosperity through more than 80 photographs spanning 113 years of pain and triumph, post-slavery.
“The City of Jackson is very proud to present this exhibit which shows the strength and drive of individuals who overcame so many obstacles and prospered during a time of injustice and inequality,” says Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr.
The exhibit’s photos were collected through the painstaking research of the curators and managers of the Smith Robertson Museum.
“Doing this research has opened my eyes to see the monumental example these individuals have displayed for people today – to begin with nothing, but to still succeed in building their own town is a great accomplishment,” says Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center Division Manager, Pamela Junior.
Mound Bayou was a symbol for Black success in the south and a sign of hope during a depressing start to life after Emancipation. Known as the “Jewel of the Delta,” the area was founded in 1817 and was incorporated as a town in 1898. Former slaves Isaiah Montgomery and Benjamin T. Green led the founding of the town through shared hopes of a peaceful community away from post-Reconstruction violence of the South. Today, Mound Bayou’s 98.4 percent African-American majority population is one of the largest of any community in the United States.
Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center is located at 528 Bloom Street in Jackson and is open from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Saturday. For more information, please contact The Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center at 601-960-1457.
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