BEST FREE MUSEUMS IN THE COUNTRY. EXPERTS IN USA TODAY READERS HAVE SPOKEN. THEY’VE VOTED AND RANKED THIS MUSEUM NUMBER FOUR AMONG THE TEN BEST FREE MUSEUMS IN THE COUNTRY. IT’S A MUSEUM THAT CELEBRATES THE STORIES OF SEVERAL INFLUENTIAL WOMEN, INCLUDING THE MUSEUM’S NAMESAKE, MISS LILY CARROLL JACKSON. OFTENTIMES, WE HEAR ABOUT WHAT MEN HAVE DONE. WE ALL KNOW ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AND HE WAS. HE DID AMAZING WORK, BUT WE SELDOM HEAR ABOUT LILY CARROLL JACKSON. SHE WAS AN INFLUENCE TO SOME OF THE BIGGER NAMES THAT WE KNOW. IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, THEY’D HAVE LOTS OF STORIES TO SHARE, STORIES OF A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY, EVEN THOUGH IT’S CONSIDERED A BALTIMORE STORY. IT’S A NATIONAL STORY BECAUSE SO MUCH OF WHAT MISS JACKSON DID AND HER LARGE CADRE OF ALLIES DID IMPACTED THE NATION. MISS LILY CARROLL JACKSON SERVED AS THE PRESIDENT OF THE BALTIMORE CHAPTER OF THE NAACP. FROM 1935 TO 1970. JACKSON BOUGHT THIS HOME IN 1953 AND USED IT AS A HUB FOR CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZING. THEY WORKED THROUGH ALL ASPECTS OF LIFE, TRYING TO GET FAIR HOUSING, TRYING TO GET EQUALIZATION IN SALARIES, TRYING TO GET BETTER SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION, PUBLIC ACCOMMODA ATIONS. BUT SHE DIDN’T DO IT ALONE. ALLIES LIKE MARGARET CAREY, A QUAKER IN BALTIMORE, FOUGHT AGAINST SEGREGATION ALONGSIDE JACKSON JACKSON’S DAUGHTER, JUANITA JACKSON MITCHELL WENT ON TO BECOME THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN TO PRACTICE LAW IN MARYLAND. ALL OF THESE STORIES OF THESE INFLUENTIAL WOMEN ARE CAPTURED INSIDE THE LILY CARROLL JACKSON CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, WHICH IS AN OFF SITE UNIT OF MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY. THE MUSEUM IS NOW RANKED AMONG THE BEST FREE MUSEUMS IN THE COUNTRY IN THE 2024 USA TODAY, TEN BEST READERS CHOICE TRAVEL AWARDS CONTEST. WE’RE A SMALL MUSEUM AND THAT WE RANKED ABOVE SOME OF THE LARGER MUSEUMS. WE HOPE THAT IT GETS MORE VISITORS HERE, MORE SCHOOL GROUPS. WE ESPECIALLY WANT THE YOUTH TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND LAND. BALTIMORE’S LEADERSHIP IN THIS BIG NATIONAL LAW LONG CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT. THE MUSEUM WILL HOLD AN OPEN HOUSE ON MARCH 23RD FROM 11 TO 3. THEY WANT EVERYONE TO COME IN AND SEE WHY THEY’RE RANKED NUMBER FOUR. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THAT, OPEN HOUSE, AND FOR THE FULL LIST OF MUSEUM RANKINGS, YOU CAN VISIT OUR WEBSIT
Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum celebrates Women's History Month with national praise
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Updated: 5:32 PM EDT Mar 11, 2024
This Women's History Month, the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum in Baltimore is in the national spotlight.Experts and USA Today readers voted and ranked the museum No. 4 among the 10 best free museums in the nation. It's a museum that celebrates the stories of several influential women, including the museum's namesake Lillie Carroll Jackson. "Oftentimes, we hear about what men have done," said Iris Leigh Barnes, the associate director and curator of the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum. "We all know about Martin Luther King Jr., and he did amazing work, but we seldom hear about Lillie Carroll Jackson. Mrs. Jackson mentored some of these men. She worked with these men. Her work preceded theirs and they took her cue in non-violent action. She was an influence to some of the bigger names that we know."The museum, which is an offsite unit of Morgan State University, shares the stories of a small group of people who changed the course of history."Even though it's considered a Baltimore story, it's a national story because so much of what Mrs. Jackson did, and what her large cadre of allies did, impacted the nation," Barnes said.Jackson served as the president of the Baltimore chapter of the the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1935 to 1970. The museum on Eutaw Place was once her home, which Jackson bought in 1953 and used as a hub for Civil Rights organizing. "They worked through all aspects of life, trying to get fair housing, trying to get equalization in salaries, trying to get better schools and education, public accommodations," Barnes said.Jackson made big strides, but she did not do it alone. Allies like Margaret Carey, a Quaker in Baltimore, fought against segregation alongside Jackson. Jackson's daughter, Juanita Jackson Mitchell, went on to become the first African American woman to practice law in Maryland. All of the stories of these influential women are captured inside the museum. The museum is now ranked among the best free museums in the country in the 2024 USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice travel award contest. "We are a small museum and we ranked above some of the larger museums," Barnes said. "We hope that it gets more visitors here, more school groups. We especially want the youth to know and understand Baltimore's leadership in this big national, long Civil Rights movement."The museum is hosting an open house on March 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to celebrate the national recognition. It is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the following website.
BALTIMORE — This Women's History Month, the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum in Baltimore is in the national spotlight.
Experts and USA Today readers voted and ranked the museum No. 4 among the 10 best free museums in the nation. It's a museum that celebrates the stories of several influential women, including the museum's namesake Lillie Carroll Jackson.
"Oftentimes, we hear about what men have done," said Iris Leigh Barnes, the associate director and curator of the Lillie Carroll Jackson Civil Rights Museum. "We all know about Martin Luther King Jr., and he did amazing work, but we seldom hear about Lillie Carroll Jackson. Mrs. Jackson mentored some of these men. She worked with these men. Her work preceded theirs and they took her cue in non-violent action. She was an influence to some of the bigger names that we know."
The museum, which is an offsite unit of Morgan State University, shares the stories of a small group of people who changed the course of history.
"Even though it's considered a Baltimore story, it's a national story because so much of what Mrs. Jackson did, and what her large cadre of allies did, impacted the nation," Barnes said.
Jackson served as the president of the Baltimore chapter of the the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1935 to 1970. The museum on Eutaw Place was once her home, which Jackson bought in 1953 and used as a hub for Civil Rights organizing.
"They worked through all aspects of life, trying to get fair housing, trying to get equalization in salaries, trying to get better schools and education, public accommodations," Barnes said.
Jackson made big strides, but she did not do it alone. Allies like Margaret Carey, a Quaker in Baltimore, fought against segregation alongside Jackson. Jackson's daughter, Juanita Jackson Mitchell, went on to become the first African American woman to practice law in Maryland. All of the stories of these influential women are captured inside the museum.
The museum is now ranked among the best free museums in the country in the 2024 USA Today 10 Best Readers' Choice travel award contest.
"We are a small museum and we ranked above some of the larger museums," Barnes said. "We hope that it gets more visitors here, more school groups. We especially want the youth to know and understand Baltimore's leadership in this big national, long Civil Rights movement."
The museum is hosting an open house on March 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to celebrate the national recognition. It is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the following website.
