The mission of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is to collect, preserve, interpret, exhibit, and hold in public trust, significant historical property from the early 19th Century to the present.
The Mississippi Armed Forces Museum (MAFM) began in 1984 when two retired military veterans, Donald Evans and Doug White, decided to display their personal collections of war artifacts in a small room inside a warehouse at Camp Shelby.
In 1999, with the help the Armed Forces Museum Foundation, military veterans, and state and local leaders, the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum was allotted $4.5 million from the Mississippi Legislature to construct a new facility. The 26,000-square-foot facility was completed at the Museum’s present location in 2001.
The facility was renovated in 2015 and was expanded to 36,000 square feet, with 26,000 square feet for exhibition space. The Museum reopened to the public in October 2016 after briefly closing for construction and renovation work.
The Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is designated as the state’s military museum, with a responsibility to honor soldiers and preserve their history for generations to come. In 2019, the staff has worked diligently to update the conservatory and arms storage, which has required the rehousing of thousands of artifacts in custom, archival-quality mounts and boxes. The artifacts are then stored in permanent new space, saving mobile shelving.
The Mission
The mission of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum is to collect, preserve, interpret, exhibit, and hold in public trust for the exclusive benefit of the people, significant historical property related to the history of the State of Mississippi and its contributions to the Armed Forces of the United States from the early 19th Century to the present.
What Would You Do with $5,000 and a Day of Service?
With $5,000.00 and a day of service, it would be wonderful to provide a catered breakfast or lunch at the museum before or after a ceremony that commemorates the 75th anniversary of WWII. Soldiers and families would be invited to attend.