If a picture is worth 1000 words, portraits lining the walls of the Mississippi Museum of Art tell story after story after story. Fifty years ago this year, hundreds of activists rode buses through the Deep South in an effort to integrate public transportation. For many of them, the Freedom Riders, Jackson was the final stop. Once they arrived in Jackson, police officers arrested and jailed them. Their offense: breach of peace.
All 328 of the Riders' mug shots will be displayed in "Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Freedom Riders" exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art, March 19 through June 12. Alongside the vintage mug shots, 15 contemporary portraits of various riders will also be on display. The exhibit includes work from journalist and photographer Eric Etheridge's book of the same name.
Free to the public, "Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Freedom Riders" is available for viewing Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art (380 South Lamar St., 601-960-1515).
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