May 20, 2025
Ferris State’s Jim Crow Museum traveling exhibit is opening in Memphis this month for its first appearance outside of Michigan
The traveling exhibit from Ferris State University’s Jim Crow Museum will be on display for the first time outside of Michigan, bringing its impactful message to Memphis, which played a pivotal role in the nation’s civil rights history.
“Overcoming Hateful Things” will open May 31 at the Memphis Museum of Science and History’s Pink Palace Museum and Mansion and will be available through October.
The powerful and thought-provoking exhibit explores the Jim Crow system, the African American experience through the Jim Crow era, and the legacies of this system today.
“We see this exhibit as a no-doubt impactful, educational, and cultural catalyst,” MoSH Executive Director Kevin Thompson said. “Through additive museum experiences like this one, we can enable a wider and deeper net of Memphians and visitors to ‘begin the exploration’ and fulfill our MoSH mission to educate and inspire.”
“Overcoming Hateful Things” debuted at the Grand Rapids Public Museum in 2023 and was exhibited at the Wayne County Community College District’s Curtis L. Ivery Downtown Campus in 2024. The traveling exhibit is supported by a $500,000 grant from the Wege Foundation.
The exhibit places artifacts in their proper historical context and cultivates understanding and empathy for victims of racial intolerance throughout history, to the present day.
The exhibition contains more than 150 items of material culture from the late 19th century to the present, embodying the effects of the Jim Crow legacy and efforts to rise above and move forward.
In addition to items from popular and commercial culture, the exhibit contains images of violence against African Americans and the civil rights activists struggling for racial equality.
The disturbing objects have been lifted from their original purposes to now serve as powerful reminders of America's racist past—and as teaching tools.
“The Jim Crow Museum is committed to the triumph of dialogue. When hearts and heads meet through honest, courageous dialogue, especially about difficult, even painful, topics, the possibility for lasting change emerges,” said Dr. David Pilgrim, Ferris State’s vice president of Diversity, Inclusion, and Strategic Initiatives. He is also the founder and director of the Jim Crow Museum.
“As with our permanent museum, ‘Overcoming Hateful Things’ will help facilitate thoughtful, nuanced discussions about our racial past, present, and future.”
Memphis played a pivotal role in the nation’s civil rights struggle. It is the home of the Lorraine Motel, which welcomed Black travelers when Jim Crow restrictions offered limited options for services and lodging. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 on a balcony at the hotel, and it is now the National Civil Rights Museum.
Ferris State broke ground in December at a campus location for the Jim Crow Museum on its Big Rapids campus.
The university has had a museum with a 30,000-piece collection of racist materials for nearly two decades, using the objects of intolerance to teach tolerance and promote social justice.
However, the new standalone building will allow the university to expand the discussion to focus on how people pushed back against racism and inspire future generations.
The 26,000-square-foot facility will be located near the State Street entrance to the campus and equipped to handle the entire collection of artifacts and a state-of-the-art archive and research component.
The new museum, expected to open in fall 2026, will have as its centerpiece a 7,500-square-foot permanent exhibit dedicated to the large-scale display and interpretation of the museum’s most compelling assets.
“The Jim Crow Museum is not merely an archive of our history—it is an educational experience. Ferris State University is incredibly proud of the work that Dr. Pilgrim and the JCM have done to create critical conversations in relation to the period,” said Dr. Bill Pink, President of Ferris State University.
“The addition of the Overcoming Hateful Things traveling exhibit offers the opportunity for people across the nation to see a small version of the impactful museum on our campus, and I hope it will encourage them to make the trip to Big Rapids and see the full version.”