NEW ORLEANS – Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and the Louisiana State Museum have announced that the first iteration of the Louisiana Civil Rights Museum will open on Sunday, Oct. 8 inside the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Boulevard.
The museum will honor Louisiana’s contributions to the national civil rights movement. in particular, it will shine a spotlight on some of the state’s civil rights heroes, whose stories may not be well known.
Leaders are planning to build a permanent museum near the Convention Center in the coming years.
“Much of what happened during the civil rights movement started right here in Louisiana,” said Nungesser. “The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum is part of our continued effort to educate visitors about the real-life activists who strategized, organized, preached, marched, stood up, sat down, and sang for change, all in one place.”
The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum will be an official stop on the state’s growing Louisiana Civil Rights Trail. Since 2021, the Louisiana Office of Tourism has unveiled 13 statewide trail markers. More are planned.
“The Louisiana Civil Rights Museum must be Louisiana’s premier center for civil rights and social justice – a living, cultural institution with a mission to use the Louisiana experience to educate, heal, celebrate and engage for social justice,” said Civil Rights Museum Advisory Board President Brenda Brent Williams.
Admission to the museum is free during the first week.
Museum partners include the Civil Rights Museum Advisory Board and the Solomon Group.
