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Civil Rights Museum opens its ‘most ambitious’ exhibition yet

By , Daily Memphian Updated: April 01, 2025 7:06 PM CT | Published: March 27, 2025 5:00 PM CT

“The Montgomery Bus Boycott does not happen — and its successes — without Bayard Rustin.”

“The sit-in movements and the Freedom Ride movements of non-violent direct action — this philosophy does not occur, and all of its successes, without Bayard Rustin,” Ryan Jones, the National Civil Rights Museum’s director of history and curatorial services, said on Thursday. “Without Bayard Rustin, there is no ‘I Have a Dream’ at the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963.”

The National Civil Rights Museum opens “Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin” exhibition on Friday, March 28. 

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Topics

National Civil Rights Museum Bayard Rustin Martin Luther King Jr. Walter Naegle Russ Wigginton Subscriber Only

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Elle Perry

Elle Perry

A native Memphian, Elle Perry has earned graduate degrees from the University of Memphis and Maryland Institute College of Art. She’s written for publications including the Memphis Business Journal, Memphis Flyer and High Ground News, and previously served as coordinator of The Teen Appeal.


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