Pamela Junior is the first person to serve as director of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, which she led from 2017 to 2023. She is also the former director of the Smith Robertson Museum.
The Two Mississippi Museums are state funded, but Junior believes Trump's order could have wide ranging impacts, including on artifacts from Mississippi.
Junior speaks during a Q and A with Mississippi Public Broadcasting while touring the Museum of Mississippi History.
Junior:
That's me receiving the Confederate flag of the state of Mississippi, when we took the flags down. So we had the lieutenant governor who presented the flag, and Justice Reuben Anderson, who was the first African-American Supreme Court justice. And they delivered the Confederate, as I call them, the Confederate flags to me, stole from me. That was such a pivotal moment.
MPB:
In the context of President Trump signing an executive order about the Smithsonian Institution, what does that photograph make you think of in terms of any implications that that executive order might have on all museums across the country?
Junior:
Well, you know, here's the thing. There's so many people that are working in museums today of color. I'm sure it needs to be told, we are not invisible. You see us every day. So if it's about not making people feel bad about a history, then how do we change the history? How do we not repeat the history?
We're not trying to make you feel bad. It's like when we hear about your history. All of it wasn’t amazing. The majority of it wasn't amazing. The beginning. So why not just tell the truth? Let's tell the truth. It’s factual. It's already been written. It's the truth. Let's tell it then. Let's move and let's learn from it. That's what I want us to do.
That's how I carried myself as director, is that, when I talk to staff members, tell the truth. You can tell it in story form, which gets people engaged. But we always tell the truth. If people shed tears, that means that it tugged at their hearts. You're not trying to make them feel bad, because that's not what we do.
But we're telling the truth about a people. We're telling the truth about strength. We're telling the truth about integrity. We're telling the truth. That's all we're doing. And it makes you want to grow and be better and do the same thing.
MPB:
With helping to curate the Two Mississippi Museums, as well as the other museums that you've been involved with, and in the context of the executive order, what challenges or complications did you encounter while you were helping to develop the various museums that you have over the course of your career?
Junior:
You know, the state of Mississippi is quite peculiar, because dealing with and at the time that I started working, I started with the Civil Rights Museum. So you had people who were not trustworthy of the state. Now, here we are with an executive order. So these people that have these amazing artifacts, what are you going to do with them?
Do they just hold on to them and they deteriorate? That may happen now. What do we do? How do we bring about that change? How do we show what we have? That's going to be something that folks are going to have to deal with. Now especially, curators trying to go out and find these amazing artifacts that tells the stories.
How's that going to affect it? I'm going to be surprised if people continue to give. I'm going to be very surprised that they do that.
MPB:
What challenges did you feel like you faced in terms of curating these museums?
Junior:
The biggest thing was that they wanted people in the community saying the state of Mississippi wanted someone to be the director of the Civil Rights Museum who they could trust. They wanted a face that they knew. They chose me. So when I came in, it was still hard, especially with those old soldiers who were a part of the movement, to get, black and white.
They still are holding on to those artifacts. But then there were some who really knew me and knew that the time that I would be here, that they would have no worries about their artifacts. I traveled the state just talking to people through having discussions about what the museums were and how they were and to come. And they would ask me questions: where would we take them?
Down to our archives. So that they could see that you can be able to come and visit and see these artifacts, or they may be on the wall. So that helped some. But again, as I said, with the new executive order, it's going to take all of that away. I hope not. I hope people don't come in and get mad, and especially ones that are “on loan.”
And I say that with quotes because if they get upset about things that are happening here, they may come get some of the most crucial artifacts that we have. I've been thinking about that and want to reach out to folks and say, no, don't even think about it. Or I just may be quiet because they're not thinking about it. But just for them to understand that these Two Mississippi Museums were built as an educational purpose, that's important.
Our former governor, William Winter, always said, these are the largest classrooms in the state of Mississippi and actually the United States, when you think of it that way, because this is where children can come. They don't get it in school. They can come here and get it. So am I afraid?
I'm afraid because I don't know what happens. I can be out there and stand at the Capitol and fuss. But I need to look back and see people behind me also.
MPB:
In the context of cuts, even to the library system, how do you think that that might pose a challenge for the museums?
Junior:
When you think about and I think you're talking about IMLS, the Institute of Museum and Library Services. That's a big hurt because they helped me in regards to the Smith Roberson Museum and Cultural Center when I was there. Now they've sent everybody home. So what happens? What happens with the moneys, these grants that they are furnishing to these smaller museums?
I'm worried. What has to happen is that the community’s going to have to take responsibility now, just as they did during the Civil Rights Movement. The communities are going to help. They have to figure out fundraising. People who work behind these walls are now going to have to go outside these walls and advocate for themselves, what we need to do to get more money.
That's what's going on. It's going to be the people that keep these doors open. It's going to be the people that keep the wall standing.
