“We as Black people are really just now discovering our history. The whole point of this is that instead of us just knowing it and putting it in a museum, which is what museums usually do, we are exposing our history. That’s why I call it an Exposeum. It’s a process, not just a place.”

— Hermon Johnson Jr., Founder

The Mound Bayou Museum is an Exposeum

The Mound Bayou Museum is the first of its kind: an Exposeum, where history is uncovered, confronted, and honored from the inside out.

Rooted in the legacy of Mound Bayou, founded by formerly enslaved people in 1887, this museum reveals the parts of Black history that have been hidden, distorted, or forgotten.

Our history is still being discovered, exposed, and passed on. From local civil rights leaders to the economic brilliance of the town’s founders, every exhibit shows Black history as legacy, resistance, joy, and a story still unfolding.

Come experience Mound Bayou as a living story still being told by the people who know it best.