Ida B. Wells Museum seeks funding

Leona Harris and Kent Falkner, with the Ida B. Wells Barnett Museum in Holly Springs, requested funding for the museum during a recent county board of supervisors meeting.

The museum is also promoting the possible naming of the School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi after Wells Barnett, a famed civil rights and human rights activist and journalist.

Harris requested continuance of annual funding by the Marshall County Board of Supervisors and said the museum is combining forces with the Holly Springs Federated Improvement Club. She asked supervisors to provide a single check for both entities, which are non-profits.

Supervisors approved the regular amount of funding with one check.

Falkner said there is substantial growth at the museum. Interest increased last year in connection with the celebration of Social Justice Week, held during the museum’s annual birthday event for the champion against lynching.

The museum is also contributing to an effort to name the journalism school at Ole Miss after Ida B. Wells. Wells already has a postage stamp honoring her legacy. And the Holly Springs Post Office on Martin Luther King Drive also bears her name.

Falkner said the museum wants to hire a marketing director and is seeking funds for that position.

Harris noted the state provided $150,000 in a grant to upgrade the outside of the museum and the museum is visited by people from all over the world.

“We’re sitting on a gold mine and don’t even know it,” Harris said. “We have operated on volunteer efforts.”

Supervisor Keith Taylor expressed interest in helping fund a marketing person but said the board attorney must first decide if it would be legal for the county to contribute.

Board attorney Kent Smith said there are three museums in the city, the Marshall County Historical Museum, the Ida B. Wells Museum and the Kate Freeman Clark Art Gallery (which is self-sustaining). He offered to obtain an attorney general’s opinion to see if the county can provide additional funding to the museum for a marketing person. He said it could take local and private legislation.

Supervisor Charles Terry summarized the request, saying, “You want $30,000 for a salary and to find out if the county can participate in a partnership with Ida B. Wells Barnett Museum, providing it is legal. That person will have marketing skills.”

The board then passed a motion to table the discussion while the board attorney investigates whether it is legal for the county to help fund a marketing director.