Connie Des Marais 17 stood outside 160 Cross Street, gripping an unwieldy stack of signs. Penned in thick black marker, unadorned on white cardboard, the signs were simple: Stop Police Brutality, one read. Justice NOW, anotherdemanded.

Take a sign, Des Marais offered the crowd that had gathered on the grassy lawn in front of the building. The AME Zion Church that once stood at 160 Cross Street has since become the headquarters of the Dance Department, but on Friday, Sept. 12, it was the Freedom Church, all triangular architecture andcrosses.

People outside the church-turned-dance-department did take signs: a jolly Middletown couple and their two children, faculty members and students milling about, choir members preparing to sing, and photographers balancing heavy cameras all accepted messages. Some held them high while others examined thewriting.

Most of the signs are recreated from actual Freedom Summer photos, Des Marais explained. We chose messages that are broad enough to apply to now, but some still reference thetime.

The time was the summer of 1964, known as the Freedom Summer. It saw young people from across the country flock to Mississippi en masse to register its black citizens to vote and to establish schools, among other civil rightsaims.

Anthony Dean 17 was another sign-wielding volunteer. He heard about the event from a friend and decided that it was the sort of thing in which he wanted to getinvolved.

Its an important thing, Dean said. Were realizing things about the mistakes of the past and acknowledging that those problems are coming throughtoday.

The signs grew popular as more people strolled up to 160 Cross. Des Marais and Dean were relieved of theirburdens.

I feel connected to this sign, said Iryelis Lopez 17, standing with a few friends in front of the building. Lopezs sign read, Register toVote.

The right to vote is something that still matters a lot, Lopezsaid.

Read more:

Freedom Summer Commemoration Looks Back to Move Forward