JACKSON, Miss. (Dec. 9, 2017) –  From Atlanta to Selma to Meridian and Jackson, Toyota hosted another “Let’s Go Places Black History Tour” to historical African American sites, culminating with the grand opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.
 
Toyota sponsored the Mississippi Department of Archives and History’s 2 Mississippi Museums project, helping to advance programming at the Museum of Mississippi History and creating the Toyota Gallery at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. The Toyota Gallery contains seven thematic galleries encircling a central gallery.
 
“We are proud to partner with the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, and welcome the opportunities it brings to foster a spirit of diversity and inclusion,” said Adrienne Trimble, general manager, Diversity & Inclusion, Toyota Motor North America.
 
Along with the Museums, Toyota and the department also partnered on a traveling exhibition to educate youth in the region.Toyota has a manufacturing plant in Blue Springs where Corollas are built.
 
“We are helping to preserve and celebrate history throughout the country, supporting a range of activities that educate and inspire, aligning with our philosophy of respect for people and our longstanding commitment to our communities,” added Trimble.

Toyota is a founding sponsor of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., a supporter of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and, for more than a decade, has sponsored The HistoryMakers–the nation’s largest collection of African American video and oral history.

Prior to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum opening, Toyota hosted several journalists on a road trip to visit the region’s historical African American sites. Stops included:
 

• The National Center for Civil and Human Rights in downtown Atlanta, Ga., serves as a cultural attraction that helps visitors explore how the American Civil Rights Movement links to the Global Human Rights Movement.
• National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Ala., a one-of-a-kind museum in the world that pays homage to people who courageously battled for the right to vote.
• The Civil Rights Trail in Meridian, Miss., provides a path for people to walk and learn about the tumultuous events that helped shape the civil rights movement in that city.

 
“These historical sites help showcase the many contributions African Americans have made to the rich tapestry of America. It’s important that we maintain them so that we can visit and discover our history,” concluded Trimble.