Exhibits 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins
This year marks the fifty-year anniversary of the powerful civil rights sit-ins that changed the course of American history in the South. In honor of this occasion, the Tennessee State Museum offers We Shall Not Be Moved: The 50th Anniversary of Tennessee’s Civil Rights Sit-Ins. Much like the peaceful protests and marches that characterized the movement itself, the exhibit is silent but powerful. Enlarged photographs capture sit-in activists and anti-civil rights demonstrators. The original stools from the W. T. Grant’s store downtown, the original site of the first sit-ins, are included in the exhibition alongside other memorabilia. The exhibit was specifically designed with children in mind, but it is a rich journey for visitors of all ages. Audiences will encounter educational installations, such as a mock department store branded with segregation-era divisions for African-American and white shoppers. The museum will also offer a one-person play geared toward school children, available during the week by reservation to groups of ten or more. An eight-minute film about the sit-ins made specifically for the exhibit will also be featured. The exhibit will run through May 16, 2010, in the museum’s Changing Galleries. The museum is open 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and is free to the public.
For more information contact the public programs office at (615) 741-0830 or visit www.tnmuseum.org.