Toyota donates $750K to history, civil rights museums under construction in Jackson

Published 11:18 am Friday, February 17, 2017

JACKSON (AP) — A car manufacturer that assembles vehicles in Mississippi is the latest corporate donor to the state’s two history museums.

Toyota Motor North America is giving $750,000 to the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.

The two museums are being built side-by-side in downtown Jackson. They are scheduled to open in December as part of the state’s bicentennial celebration.

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The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum will focus on events from 1945 to 1976. It will include a gallery sponsored by Toyota.

Private donors are giving $17 million for the museums, and the state has spent about $90 million for construction and exhibits.

The unit of Japanese-based Toyota Motor Co. has 2,200 employees at the manufacturing plant it opened in 2011 near the north Mississippi town of Blue Springs