Lance Wheeler

Director of Exhibitions

Educated at Belmont Abbey College (BA) and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (MA), Lance Wheeler is from Jersey City, New Jersey, with a passion for history and exhibitions.

Lance previously served as the Education & PR Manager for the Margaret Walker Center & COFO Civil Rights Education Center at Jackson State University and served as the inaugural Curator of Exhibitions at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum. In those roles, he used exhibitions to create dialogue around civil and human rights history to help bridge the events from the past to current issues in the 21st century.

As a public historian and community curator, Lance has worked effortlessly with civil rights families and organizations like the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Institute to connect communities and engage youth. In addition, he worked with Black, Brown, and Indigenous farmers to deepen their understanding and analysis of their individual truth and legacy through the lens of the Civil Rights Movement. Lance also participated as a thought leader for the National Day of Racial Healing for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where he discussed the essential role museums have in the healing process for all people.

Currently, Lance serves on the council for the Southeastern Museum Conference and is the Committee Chair for Emerging Museum Professionals for the Association of African American Museums. Lance is also an active member of the American Association for State and Local History. He is published in both the Museological Review and Inside Southeastern Museum Conference.

Lance believes, “At its simplest form, museums are more than buildings that house artifacts; museums are and should be places that take individuals on a spiritual journey bridging the past with the present and beyond.”