 The city has been selected as the future location of the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center ( <unk> ) . <unk> <unk> , the " Father of Country Music " , was born in Meridian . Highland Park houses a museum which displays <unk> of his life and career , as well as railroad equipment from the steam @-@ engine era . The park is also home to the Highland Park <unk> <unk> , a National Historic Landmark . It is the world 's only two @-@ row stationary <unk> menagerie in existence . Other notable natives include Miss America 1986 Susan <unk> , James <unk> – an activist who was killed in the Mississippi civil rights workers murders in 1964 , and Hartley <unk> , founder of <unk> <unk> headquartered in Meridian . The federal <unk> was the site of the 1966 @-@ 1967 trial of suspects in the murder of <unk> and two other activists ; it was the first time a white jury convicted a white official of a civil rights killing . 
