Nissan pledges $500K for Miss. history, civil rights museums

A $500,000 donation from Nissan to the Mississippi History and Mississippi Civil Rights Museum completes the $12 million private fundraising goal supporters had set to fill the facilities with artifacts.

"Now we're going to raise $16 million," Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said at a news conference Monday morning at Nissan's manufacturing facility in Canton.

The automaker's contribution will fund the construction of a dining and gathering space that will serve both museums, set to open in December 2017 adjacent to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. The Nissan money will also pay for a gallery at the Civil Rights Museum.

"We believe the history of this state needs to be told," said Jeffrey Webster, Nissan's director of diversity and inclusion for the Americas. "This contribution continues Nissan's commitment to diversity, education and service in our community."

The private fundraising for artifacts for the two museums serves as a match for an overall $74 million the state has committed to pay for construction. The bond bill lawmakers passed in the legislative session that just ended includes $20 million for that purpose.

Set to open as part of the state's bicentennial celebration that starts in two years, the museums will usher 180,000 visitors through its doors annually, Horhn said. The yearly economic impact to the Jackson area should exceed $17 million, he said, citing estimates from the Mississippi Development Authority's Division of Tourism.

"With today's action, Nissan is showing its commitment to our state," said former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, who was in office when Nissan announced its intention to build in Canton in 2000 and when it started production in May 2003.

This is the second large donation the museums have gotten since last fall. In October, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation gave $2.3 million. The gift, made in the names of former Gov. William Winter and Myrlie Evers, will support educational programs at the civil rights museum.

"Nissan's gift will be celebrated by many generations of future Mississippians," said Reuben Anderson, former Mississippi Supreme Court justice and member of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History Board of Trustees. "It connects a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with two state-of-the-art museums. It is a good day for all Mississippians."

Winter said the museums would help to unify a state that has "been divided most of our history. This represents that unified effort."

Contact Clay Chandler at (601) 961-7264 or cchandler@jackson.gannett.com. Follow @claychand on Twitter.