National Civil Rights Museum plans more interactive exhibits - USATODAY.com: ... It's easy to understand the popularity of the bus — it's one of the few interactive exhibits at the museum, which opened in September 1991 and will undergo a renovation over the next three or so years with an estimated $10 million to $15 million cost.
Museum leaders 'are fond of saying, when we opened, we were using state-of-the-art laser discs,' says Tracy Lauritzen Wright, the museum's director of administration/special projects.
Another somewhat interactive exhibit involves a small room off to the side with two phones in it. Visitors can hear a conversation between President Kennedy and Gov. Ross Barnett about James Meredith, the black student who wanted to attend the University of Mississippi in 1962. Kennedy's frustration grows and grows as Barnett says he'll send 280 highway patrol officers to protect Meredith, but they won't be armed.
