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Stax Museum Offering FREE Field Trips for all Title 1 Schools

The Soulsville Foundation’s Stax Museum of American Soul Music’s 20th Anniversary celebration includes offering free-admission field trips to all Title 1 Schools, with special emphasis placed on Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS), which are all Title 1 Schools. Even greater focus will be placed on schools in the South Memphis neighborhoods that surround the Stax Museum and Stax Music Academy. The museum intends for this to be permanent.

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Title 1 schools, as part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA), receive governmental financial assistance because of high percentages of children from low-income families. The funding ensures that all children meet challenging state academic standards.

“Field trips to the Stax Museum for students of all ages are a great way for young people to learn about Stax Records, the evolution of soul music, Memphis history, American history, and African American history,” said Stax Museum Executive Director Jeff Kollath. “In addition to the great music that emanated from this corner of Memphis, Stax was known for its open-door policy and its culture of inclusion, opportunity, and economic empowerment for people from all walks of life. We want to convey all of that history to young people, particularly the young people of South Memphis, because it happened in their own backyard and they should know this.”

The free field trip tours include the entire Stax Museum, which features permanent, changing, and interactive exhibits such as an authentic circa-1906 Mississippi Delta Church, Express Yourself Dance Floor, a recreation of the famed recording Studio A, a Hall of Records with some 300 albums and 900 singles on display, and Isaac Hayes’ 1972 Peacock-blue, gold-trimmed, fur-lined, Cadillac Eldorado. In addition, the Stax Museum includes more than 2,500 items of memorabilia including stage costumes, vintage recording equipment, photographs, instruments, personal mementoes, and more, including videos and music throughout the tour.

The Stax Museum does not provide transportation for free field trips and there are no guided tours. To see if your school is eligible for this offer, please visit https://staxmuseum.com/ and click on the Free Field Trips for Title 1 Schools icon at the bottom of the page or click on https://staxmuseum.com/free-field-trips-for-title-1-schools-throughout-2023/.

Funding for these free field trips was provided by Valero Benefit for Children and the Hohenberg Family Foundation, Inc.