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