Attendance beats expectations at Mississippi history museums

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Two Mississippi history museums have attracted more visitors in their first seven months than officials predicted for an entire year.

State Department of Archives and History director Katie Blount says Tuesday that more than 185,000 people have toured the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum and the adjoining Museum of Mississippi History. They opened in downtown Jackson in December.

The original prediction was for about 180,000 visitors the first year.

About 16,000 people toured the museums when the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided free admission for four days in January to commemorate the birthdate of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Blount says in a news release that visitors have come from all 82 counties in Mississippi and several countries, including Australia, Brazil, China, France, Japan, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

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