The latest marker to be installed on the Mississippi Freedom Trail was announced Monday, commemorating Hattiesburg native and civil rights leader Victoria Jackson Gray Adams.
Located in Gray Adams’ hometown, the marker was unveiled at 816 Elnora Knight Road, which was an essential hub for the 1964 Freedom Summer Movement. Gray Adams worked avidly to increase Black voter registration throughout the campaign, helping land Hattiesburg as the largest Freedom Summer area in Mississippi.
“It is our honor to recognize a remarkable Hattiesburg civil rights trailblazer, Victoria Jackson Gray Adams, with this commemorative Mississippi Freedom Trail marker,” Visit Hattiesburg CEO Marlo Dorsey said. “Her tireless leadership and display of courage along the difficult and tumultuous journey toward equal rights is forever engrained in Hattiesburg’s story. This visible reminder will continue to be shared as a critical part of our city’s history and the heroic role she played in its progress.”
Born on Nov. 5, 1926, Gray Adams solidified herself as a civil rights leader in the early 1960s. In addition to her voter registration work during the Freedom Summer, she educated disenfranchised communities about the civil rights promised to all Americans and coordinated political activities with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. In 1965, she became the first Black woman to run for the Mississippi Senate.
“Victoria Jackson Gray Adams was a relentless trailblazer for civil rights, who chose to never accept the status quo as the final word,” Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker said. “This marker will share her story with future generations, and we hope it will help raise up citizens with the same fighting spirit to call out injustice and advance the cause of good.”
With the addition of the marker commemorating Gray Adams, the Mississippi Freedom Trail now consists of more than 40 sites that offer visitors the opportunity to learn more about the state’s role in the civil rights movement. The Mississippi Freedom Trail is part of the United States Civil Rights Trail.
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