from Bethel College
“Your history is a connector to your past – seek out who you are, seek out history. Soak in the knowledge of the ancestors, marinate in their wisdom – come out awakened by the epiphanies, come out smarter, come out whole!” – Pamela D. C. Junior
Pamela D. C. Junior is the recently retired director of the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson, Miss. During her tenure as a public servant, Pamela served as manager of the Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center, housed in the first public school for Blacks in Jackson, and worked tirelessly to make the museum a first-class place of interpretation. She was also instrumental in creating the first retrospective gallery of the life of Medgar Evers, the first field secretary for the NAACP and hero of the Mississippi civil rights movement. After serving 17 years in this capacity, Pamela became the inaugural director of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. Two years later, she was promoted to director of the Two Mississippi Museums (the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum), where she continued her diligent work to share the stories of Mississippi with audiences from all over the world. She believed the stories told in the museums should be used as educational tools for all.
Pamela has been honored over the years for her professional as well as her community work. She has garnered many prestigious awards and accolades, including: induction into the Mississippi Tourism Association Hall of Fame; the Margaret Walker Center’s coveted For My People Award from Jackson State University; the Visit Jackson Hometown Hero Award; the Magnolia Bar Association’s Harriet Tubman Award; the Association of African American Museums Leadership Award for her work in the field of museum studies and public museum spaces; upcoming (March 22, 2024), the prestigious Cora Norman Award from the Mississippi Humanities Council, recognizing lifetime achievement in the humanities for her long career telling Mississippi stories; the Leontyne Price Who’s Who in Mississippi Women Award and the Candace Award for Public Policy from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc.-Central Mississippi Chapter.
Pamela continues to serve her community. She’s a new member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc.-Alpha Delta Zeta Chapter; an appointed member-at-large for Visit Jackson; an executive board member for the Mississippi Book Festival; and, most recently, the board of trustees for the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
As a woman who knows she did not travel this road alone, but on the shoulders of pure strength, tenacity and faith, she gives homage to her grandmother, Ethel Green, her mother, Carolyn Turner, and her amazing mentors, most notably, Mrs. Ruth Batton Campbell (deceased).
Pamela is a graduate of Thee I Love Jackson State University, where she received a B. S. in education with a minor in special education.
