The Best Museums in Memphis to Visit

Highlighting the struggles that came with fighting for equality, the National Civil Rights Museum features more than 260 artifacts, interactive media and external listening posts that take visitors through five centuries of history, focusing on the effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws on African-Americans. The exhibits at the museum cover iconic events including the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955 and the student sit-ins of the 1960s. Three-dimensional figures are positioned within the exhibits to recreate these events in a way that brings them to life. The stories of civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks are also featured, ensuring that their legacies and tales of courage are understood today.

Where Stax Records once stood, now stands the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 1976, Stax Recrods went bankrupt and was sold to Southside Church of God in Christ. It was briefly used as a soup kitchen, but was torn down in 1989 due to deteriorating conditions. In 2001, construction began on the Stax Museum, as well as the adjacent Stax Music Academy. The museum, which is a replica of the Stax recording studio, opened in 2003. The museum has more than 2,000 videos, photographs, stage costumes, interactive exhibits and original instruments that were used to record hit songs at Stax in its heyday. The Stax Music Academy mentors at-risk youth through music education and performance opportunities. It is also where the Soulsville Charter School is located.

When it opened in 2000, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum was the first exhibition ever created by the Smithsonian Institution with another museum. It was developed in partnership with the National Museum of American History(NMAH) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institution. The focus of the museum is to tell the stories of musicians who overcame racial and socioeconomic barriers to create influential music. The museum became part of the FedEx Forum, which is Memphis’s premier sports and entertainment venue, in 2004. Visitors can enjoy a digital audio tour that offers a comprehensive musical experience covering the history of Sun, Stax and Hi Records, as well as the Memphis music scene from the 1930s through to the present. Guests can take the tour at their own pace, and explore seven galleries, more than 30 instruments and over 300 minutes of fascinating information.