National Museum of African American History and Culture Acquires Major Collection of Work Attributed to Poet Phillis Wheatley Peters

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has acquired the largest private collection of items to bring new context and perspective to the life and literary impact of poet Phillis Wheatley Peters (c.1753–1784), including one of the few manuscripts written in the poet’s hand. Born in West Africa and captured by slave traders as a child, Wheatley Peters became the first African American to publish a book of poetry with the 1773 release of her “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” in London. A rare and exciting highlight of this acquisition is a four-page manuscript of a poem, “Ocean,” written in ink by Wheatley Peters's own hand, the only copy that exists today and previously unpublished before 1998. The poem was likely composed on her return voyage to America from England in September 1773. 

Of the 30 objects in this collection, six were published during her lifespan. Selected items from the collection can be viewed online through the Searchable Museum website. Plans to display these new acquisitions at a later date are in the works. The museum currently recognizes Wheatley Peters in the Paradox of Liberty display in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition with a statue and a copy of Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral.

“Phillis Wheatley Peters’s poetry brought her renown in abolitionist circles and presented as proof of the humanity of those of African descent and the inhumanity of slavery,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Scholars continue to parse through her work to determine when and where she posed resistance to slavery; her poem ‘On Being Brought from Africa to America’ is considered to be a chastisement of slavery to the millions of white Americans undergoing the religious revival movement known as ‘The Great Awakening.’ This must have pricked Thomas Jefferson’s conscience, for his 1785 publication of Notes on the State of Virginia dismissed Wheatley Peters’s talent as coming from religion and religious training rather than intellect.”

Some additional highlights of the collection include: 

Autograph manuscript of 70-line dramatic poem, “Ocean,” by Wheatley, ca. September 1773, four pages. 

An issue of The Arminian Magazine, August 1789, features the 20-line poem “On the Death of a Child, Five Years of Age” and attributes it to “Phillis Wheatly, a negro.” 

A hardcover edition of the book Pearls From the American Female Poets by Caroline May, 1869. The entry for Wheatley Peters spans pages 39 to 41 and includes a biographical note and two poems: “On the Death of a Young Gentleman of Great Promise” and “Sleep.” 

A hardcover edition of the book The Poems of Phillis Wheatley, 1909. The red cloth cover features Wheatley Peters in profile and holding a quill to paper in her right hand.

A hardcover edition of the book Phillis Wheatley (Phillis Peters): A Critical Attempt and a Bibliography of Her Writings by Charles Frederick Heartman, 1915. Translated into English from the original German.

Booklet published by the Phillis Wheatley Club of Waycross, Georgia, in 1930. Contains a biography of the poet and correspondence between Wheatley Peters and George Washington, including a poem she sent him, “His Excellency General Washington.”    

The publication of her poems by the AME Church and a biography by the Phillis Wheatley Club in the early 20th century are the only works in the collection published by Black printers. The biography published by the Phillis Wheatley Club takes on a higher level of importance because it documents the educational work of Black clubwomen and the role Black women played as historians of Black life and culture. 

“This collection, ranging from the late 18th century to the early 20th century, provides a glimpse of Phillis Wheatley Peters the poet and Wheatley Peters the icon, as well as Wheatley Peters the woman,” said Angela Tate, curator of women’s history at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “This part of Wheatley Peters life has been long removed from popular culture and remembrance. A 1783 poem in this collection is of extreme interest because it is published under her married name of Phillis Peters, and furthermore, it is important to note that she is not presented as Mrs. John Peters.” 

About Phillis Wheatley Peters 

Wheatley Peters spent most of her life enslaved and in service to John and Susanna Wheatley of Boston. She was named Phillis after the slave ship on which she was transported to the Americas. Her surname of Peters is that of the man she married in 1778, John Peters, a free man of color. Wheatley Peters’ owners taught her to read and write, and by age 14, she had begun to write poetry that would soon be published and circulated among the elites of late 18th-century America and Great Britain.  

Her first and only volume of poetry, “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral” (1772), was published in London with the assistance of wealthy abolitionists. The Wheatleys manumitted Wheatley Peters in 1773 under pressure from critics who saw the hypocrisy in praising her talent while keeping her enslaved. They died within a few years of that decision and Wheatley Peters soon met and married grocer John Peters. Her life afterwards was indicative of the troubled freedom of African Americans of that period, who were emancipated but not fully integrated into the promise of American citizenship. Wheatley Peters was also affected by the loss of all three of her children—the birth of the last of whom caused her premature death at age 31 in 1784. 

Despite being feted at as a prodigy while enslaved, the emancipated Wheatley Peters struggled to find the support necessary for producing a second volume of poetry, and her husband’s financial struggles forced her to find work as a scullery maid—the lowest position of domestic help. 

Posthumous publications of Wheatley Peters’s poetry in various anthologies and periodicals solidified her image as a child poet for the benefit of abolitionist activism and African American cultural pride in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 21st century, the accumulation of this collection is a restoration of Wheatley Peters the woman and the influence of her poetry and activism today.  

National Museum of African American History and Culture celebrates 10 millionth visitor

It's been seven years since the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on the National Mall. But in that relatively short lifetime for a museum, a stunning number of visitors have stopped by.

On 9/30/23 the NMAAHC welcomed the 10 millionth visitor through its doors.

Michelle Commander Named Deputy Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) has announced the selection of its deputy director, Michelle Commander. Commander brings a plethora of experience, leadership and knowledge to the position, most recently working as the deputy director of research and strategic initiatives at The New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Prior to that appointment, Commander served as the Schomburg Center’s associate director and curator of the Lapidus Center for the Historical Analysis of Transatlantic Slavery.

“With her wide-ranging work on global slavery, West Africa, and Afrofuturism, Michelle is deeply anchored in history with an understanding of how historic collections intersect with our contemporary world,” said Kevin Young, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the museum. “She has a demonstrated record of embracing innovation to expand a museum’s reach to various communities.”

As the deputy director for the largest national museum of African American history and culture, Commander will support work on the current Living History campaign and expanding technologies, building upon the museum’s goal to reach every corner of the digital world. She will also be responsible for assisting and collaborating in the overall planning, development and management of the museum’s activities while leading the offices of Education and Publications. Commander will develop partnerships and cultivate an environment of learning and engagement across the Smithsonian museums.

The deputy director is an essential position at NMAAHC, where all Americans can learn about the richness and diversity of the African American experience—what it means to their lives, and how it has shaped this nation. In addition to in-person visitors and programs, the museum’s digital initiatives have reached 21 million virtual visitors, illuminating the past and connecting history to the issues of today.

Commander received her doctorate and Master of Arts in American studies and ethnicity from the University of Southern California, Master of Science in curriculum and instruction from Florida State University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Charleston Southern University. She is a recipient of research fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the Fulbright Scholar Program. Commander is an elected member of the American Antiquarian Society. For eight years, Commander served in the Department of English and Program in Africana Studies at the University of Tennessee, earning the rank of associate professor before joining the Schomburg Center. She is also consulting curator for the recent Afrofuturism period room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, “Before Yesterday We Could Fly.” Her books include Afro-Atlantic Flight: Speculative Returns and the Black Fantastic (Duke University Press, 2017) and Avidly Reads: Passages (NYU Press, 2021). She is the editor of the anthology Unsung: Unheralded Narratives of American Slavery & Abolition (Penguin, 2021).

Commander is succeeding the outgoing deputy director, Kinshasha Holman Conwill, who retired in December 2022 after almost two decades of service to NMAAHC. During her time at the museum, Holman Conwill built powerful collaborations to help expand the museum’s collections, foster external partnerships and develop exhibitions and programs.

National Museum of African American History and Culture To Observe 160th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is recognizing the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In honor of this important moment, the museum encourages visitors to reflect on the words featured in early copies of a handheld pamphlet of the Emancipation Proclamation, an original signed copy of President Abraham Lincoln’s Executive Order and an original handwritten signed copy of the 13th Amendment, all on display in the museum’s “Slavery and Freedom” exhibition. The Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment are two of the most important documents in the nation’s history. They helped the country

fulfill the highest ideal of liberty by ensuring a more inclusive manifestation of freedom. For more details and to learn more, visit nmaahc.si.edu/emancipation.

“It is important that we remember the hard-fought battle for freedom and what it took to ensure freedom for all,” said Mary Elliott, curator of American slavery at the museum. “The Emancipation Proclamation did not free all enslaved people. Yet, it was foundational in the march toward freedom, and it struck a mighty blow to the system of slavery. The 13th Amendment finally knocked out slavery in the nation.”

On Sept. 22, 1862, Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. In local churches, enslaved and free people awaited the midnight hour for the Emancipation Proclamation to go into effect. The occasion became known as “Watch Night.” Under his wartime authority as commander in chief, Lincoln ordered that, as of Jan. 1, 1863, all enslaved individuals in all areas still in rebellion against the United States “henceforward shall be free.” Pastor John C. Gibbs of Philadelphia’s First African Presbyterian Church declared, “The Proclamation has gone forth, and God is saying to this nation by its legitimate constitute head, Man must be free.” The Emancipation Proclamation also enabled African American men to enlist in the armed forces. The war to preserve the Union became a war to end slavery. The proclamation was limited in scope but revolutionary in its impact.

The 13th Amendment completed what free and enslaved African Americans, abolitionists and the Emancipation Proclamation set in motion. On Dec. 6, 1865, the U.S. government abolished slavery by amending the Constitution to state: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

To honor the 160th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the museum is hosting a screening of the new Netflix film Descendant Saturday, Jan. 7 at 2 p.m., presented by the museum’s public programs department and the Robert F. Smith Explore Your Family History Center. The film documents the search and recovery of the Clotilda, the last known ship to arrive in the United States illegally carrying enslaved Africans, in Mobile, Alabama. After the film, there will be a panel discussion moderated by Elliott and featuring Margaret Brown, director of the film; Kern Jackson, co-writer and co-producer of the film; Veda Tunstall and Joycelyn Davis, descendants of passengers of the Clotilda; and executive producer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Admission is free; however, registration is required.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Announces Honorary Chairs for Living History Campaign

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African History and Culture has selected the honorary chairs of its $350 million Living History Campaign to build the museum’s endowment and support its ongoing programs and digital initiatives. The honorary chairs include President and Mrs. George W. Bush, President and Mrs. Barack Obama, museum council chair Ken Chenault, television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes and multimedia and entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey.

The late Gen. Colin Powell also agreed to serve as an honorary campaign chair before he died in October 2021.

“It’s really crucial to launch this fundraising campaign now—when the study and understanding of the African American experience are so often under attack,” said Kevin Young, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the museum. “We are the guardians of that history, and we need everyone’s help to ensure this history is told accurately as part of the American story. This campaign will help us build our endowment to keep the museum going in perpetuity and will also provide support for our programming, exhibitions, collections and digital capabilities, so that around the nation and the world, any time of day, people can have this history in their hands.”

“One of the reasons I love this museum so much is because you must know from whence you come....I think about all those who came before me and didn’t have the opportunities or choices my generation was given,” Winfrey said. “I think I owe them a resurrection. I feel that my life brings redemption to the lives they struggled to create and build for all of us.”

Through the Living History Campaign, which concludes in 2024, the museum aims to provide global leadership in education and scholarship on the African American experience, attract the best scholars and thinkers, expand the museum’s most successful initiatives, and build advanced digital platforms that will provide access to all. As the only national museum dedicated to exploring, documenting, and showcasing the African American experience, all of the museum’s work is infused with and informed by the ongoing quest for social justice. Although the museum is funded in part by federal appropriations, that funding only covers a portion of the museum’s annual operating budget.

The Living History Campaign also is part of the Smithsonian Campaign for Our Shared Future, led by Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. The campaign will secure funds for all Smithsonian museums and centers as the Institution reimagines its mission to find solutions for collective challenges in a rapidly changing world. Together with the communities the Smithsonian serves, it will create a better, more collaborative future. For more details and to learn more, visit the museum’s Living History Campaign website.

About the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Since opening Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has welcomed more than 8.5 million in-person visitors and millions more through its digital presence. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edu, follow @NMAAHC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000. 

“Spirit in the Dark” exhibition open at the National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opened its latest exhibition, “Spirit in the Dark: Religion in Black Music, Activism, and Popular Culture,” on Nov. 18. Through never-before-seen objects from the museum’s permanent collection, alongside rare photographs and stories featured in Ebony and Jet magazines, the exhibition explores ways in which religion is a part of the cultural fabric of the African American experience. “Spirit in the Dark” will be on view in the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts (CAAMA) gallery until November 2023.

The exhibition includes photographs of several prominent African Americans, such as Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Maya Angelou, Reverend Ike and Jesse Jackson, examining religion’s impact on their lives and the larger Black community. Photographs featured in the exhibition are taken from the recently acquired Johnson Publishing Company archive, which is jointly owned by the museum and the Getty Research Institute. “Spirit in the Dark” showcases 37 framed photographs from the JPC archive and approximately 25 objects from the museum’s collection.

“The role of the Black press has always been pivotal in amplifying African American social and religious life,” said Eric Lewis Williams, museum curator of religion. “Ebony and Jet captured and granted rare insight into the lives of influential Black figures, often revealing how religion has inspired, undergirded, and animated the work of Black artists, activists and changemakers. Through these photographs, objects and the larger stories they represent, we are able to highlight the tremendous diversity within the Black religious experience and bear witness to the role of religion in the Black struggle for human dignity and social equality.”

The exhibition spotlights the presence of religion in African American popular culture through three sections, providing a visual exploration of religion’s shadow in both the sacred and secular through images and artifacts. Each section examines the juxtaposition of various diverse aspects of religion and its space in African American life:

· Blurred Lines: Holy | Profane: This section explores how African American musicians and vocalists blur and transgress the boundaries between the holy and the profane. Artists often transport the power of Black sacred music—historically performed in places of worship—into secular or profane spheres, often fusing modalities and moving back and forth between genres.

· Bearing Witness: Protest | Praise: The second section looks at Black religious leaders who dually ministered to the spiritual needs of their people and led as activists in seasons of social protest. Bearing witness to wrongs and lighting the pathway to freedom, these individuals embodied both priestly and prophetic functions in their contributions to leadership in the struggle for Black liberation.

· Lived Realities: Suffering | Hope: The final section journeys through the creative social and political endeavors of Black artists and activists. They have deployed their faith, talents, and moral visions to expose the harsh realities of the suffering and trauma of Black people in America. These same individuals offered bold visions of Black flourishing and hope, emboldening the oppressed in their fight for justice and social equality.

Visitors also will be able to listen to the sounds of the exhibition with a curated playlist of music by artists included in “Spirit in the Dark” and experience the exhibition virtually with a special companion digital exhibition on the Searchable Museum website.

About the Johnson Publishing Company archive

In 2019, a consortium of five nonprofit organizations, including the Ford Foundation, the Getty Trust, the MacArthur Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution, purchased and preserved the JPC archive, which includes more than 4 million prints, negatives, slides, and other photographic formats, as well as 10,000 audiovisual items. The archive is jointly owned by the museum and the Getty Research Institute, which are working together to preserve, catalog and digitize these materials so they can be shared and studied for generations to come.

The archival pigment prints in this exhibition were made in 2022 from the digital files of a legacy collection including 2,800 of the most iconic JPC images, which were digitized between 2007 and 2012 from original prints, slides, negatives, contact sheets, and oversized formats.

About the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life

The museum’s Center for the Study of African American Religious Life organizes public programs and collects religious artifacts that seek to explore religion’s place in African American history and culture and the contemporary roles and needs of faith leaders, faith-based organizations, and African American communities. Through innovative scholarship, the Center expands the ways religion is acknowledged and explored by our nation’s research and cultural institutions. The work of the Center, including the current exhibition, Spirit in the Dark, is generously supported by Lilly Endowment Inc.

About the Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts

The Earl W. and Amanda Stafford Center for African American Media Arts is the Museum’s home of visual culture and innovation. Through its changing exhibitions, public programs, and publications, CAAMA showcases the formation of African American history and culture through media arts, including photography, film, video and audio recordings.

About the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Since opening Sept. 24, 2016, the National Museum of African American History and Culture has welcomed more than 8.5 million in-person visitors and millions more through its digital presence. Occupying a prominent location next to the Washington Monument on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the nearly 400,000-square-foot museum is the nation’s largest and most comprehensive cultural destination devoted exclusively to exploring, documenting and showcasing the African American story and its impact on American and world history. For more information about the museum, visit nmaahc.si.edufollow @NMAAHC on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or call Smithsonian information at (202) 633-1000.

National Museum of African American History and Culture to Hold Juneteenth Events

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will host a variety of activities virtual and in-person highlighting the experience of Blacks celebrating Juneteenth.

The programming schedule consists of:

• Tuning In To Juneteenth, June 6 at 6 p.m. This virtual program features Stephen Lewis, the museum’s curator of music and the performing arts, discussing the debut of the Juneteenth Playlist featuring the best of jazz, soul, rhythm, and blues, gospel, classical and other genres. The program is free but registration is required.

• Juneteenth Dishes to Taste and Savor, June 6 at 6 p.m. Museum curator Joanne Hyppolite and Sweet Home Café Chef Ramin Coles will talk virtually about how at-home audiences can design and cook a Juneteenth Day menu. The program is free but registration is free.

• Public Program: Texas Freedom Colonies, June 11, 12 p.m.-1:30 p.m. ET. Andrea Roberts, a scholar at the University of Texas at Austin, will discuss her work researching, documenting, preserving, and mapping “Freedom Colonies”—areas where Blacks started intentional communities between 1865-1935 during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow eras in Texas. This event will occur in the Oprah Winfrey Theater and will be streamed on the museum’s platforms. The program is free but registration is required.

• Public Program: Juneteenth: Watermelon & Red Birds—A Conversation with Nicole A. Taylor, June 13 at 7 p.m. This in-person event, which will take place in the Oprah Winfrey Theater, will showcase cookout author Nicole A. Taylor and Kevin Young of the museum discussing Taylor’s latest work “Watermelon & Red Birds.” The book talks about 19th century Juneteenth celebration and the latest recipes for modern-day tastes. A reception will follow the discussion and books will be available to purchase. The program is free but registration is required.

• One Year Later: Juneteenth for all Americans, June 15 at 7 p.m. Kevin Young of the museum moderates in-person a panel of scholars as they discuss the historic and social complexity of Juneteenth. The program is free but registration is required.

• Juneteenth Community Day, June 19. Celebrate the festivities of Juneteenth in person at the museum with three community events. There will also be craft-making activities occurring from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. All programs are free but registration is required.

• Storytime: The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez, June 20 at 11 a.m. Noted author Rio Cortex will read from her book “The ABCs of Black History.” The program is free but registration is required.

• Juneteenth Soundstage: Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings, June 20 at 3 p.m. ET. Two-time Grammy-nominated trumpeter Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings bring the sounds of New Orleans in-person and virtually, to the museum’s Oprah Winfrey Theater. The program is free but registration is required.

• Juneteenth: A Soldier’s Story, June 20 at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Museum visitors can learn about the United States Colored Troops, the Black servicemen during the Civil War, and their connection to Juneteenth.    

The National Museum of African American History and Culture presents the next page from Our American Story

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is proud to present the next page from Our American Story, an online series for Museum supporters. We offer these stories to honor and celebrate the African American experience, share an immensely rich history and culture, and inspire and sustain our community as we move toward the future together.

The Second Great Awakening, an early 19th-century religious revival in the United States, marked an era of transformation for America and a new path forward for Jarena Lee. Born into a free Black family in Cape May, New Jersey, in 1783, Lee navigated the intense religiosity and social reformation of her time to emerge as the nation’s first African American woman preacher and the first woman to be recognized as an evangelist in the male-dominated African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church.

Lee’s journey to Christianity began when she moved to Philadelphia as a young adult in 1807. Like many Americans of her time, Lee struggled with changing cultural beliefs on human nature, morality, and the path to salvation. In search of answers, she sought out a personal connection to the gospel and heard the teachings of Bishop Richard Allen, a renowned preacher in Philadelphia. Inspired by his powerful sermons, Lee decided to join the church and get baptized.

But Lee’s journey of faith would be difficult. Lee struggled to find a place for herself and her passion for the gospel within the male-dominated church—a battle that brought on depression and even thoughts of suicide. She also wrestled with the inherent conflict between her spirituality and a desire for “the vanities of this life.”

Despite these challenges, Lee remained determined to go beyond the church and share her faith in Christ with the world, a conviction that she carried back to New Jersey, where she moved with her new husband, Methodist Pastor Joseph Lee, in 1811. While in New Jersey, Lee was able to serve in an African Methodist congregation and nurture her faith—but she still couldn’t practice what she believed was her true calling: preaching.

Seven years into her marriage, Lee became a widow. The grief that followed her husband’s death only strengthened Lee’s conviction to “preach the word of God.” She returned to Philadelphia soon after, determined to advocate for women in the ministry.

Bishop Allen, who by then had founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, initially refused to grant Lee permission to preach because of the church’s ban on female ministers. But Lee, driven by the intensity of her faith, began delivering sermons wherever she could—in open fields, town squares, and her home.

One day, while attending a Sunday worship service at Bishop Allen’s church, Lee heard a guest preacher struggle with the delivery of his sermon. She sprang into action, picking up where he left off, and presented her own testimony. Bishop Allen was so impressed by Lee’s preaching and boldness that he publicly endorsed her. She was soon permitted to preach, and later became the first ordained woman preacher in the AME Church.

Lee’s evangelical career spanned multiple decades and intersected with her advocacy for equal rights and powerful leadership in the abolitionist movement. Lee also was the first African American woman to publish an autobiographical memoir, The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee, a Colored Lady, Giving an Account of Her Call to Preach the Gospel, which was first released in 1836.

“For as unseemly as it may appear now-a-days for a woman to preach,” Lee wrote, “it should be remembered that nothing is impossible with God. And why should it be thought impossible . . . or improper for a woman to preach?”

The relentless persistence of Jarena Lee, who died in 1864, helped break down barriers and pave the way for African American women to enter the ministry. Her achievements were especially remarkable, given that they occurred during a time when women’s contributions were often overlooked, ignored, or forgotten.

Like so many pioneers of her time, Lee’s story is one of resiliency, optimism, and spirituality—values that are deeply rooted throughout African American history and culture. Although Jarena Lee’s history is not widely known, her legacy as the first African American woman preacher represents an important example of women defying social barriers, transcending traditional gender roles, and touching the hearts, minds, and souls of many.

If you’d like to learn more about Jarena Lee’s incredible journey—or if you are interested in exploring other powerful but lesser-known stories in African American history—please visit our online Searchable Museum today. This groundbreaking—and 2022 CIO Award-winning—initiative by the Museum brings innovative, immersive digital experiences and evocative content directly into the homes of supporters like you.

The Museum’s exhibitions and digital collections help connect individuals with a deeper understanding of the African American story by sharing the lives of pioneers like Jarena Lee. Please help the Museum continue this critical work by joining the Museum or making a donation today.

To learn more about Jarena Lee and other influential figures in African American history, please visit our Searchable Museum.

 

Breonna Taylor’s Vanity Fair Portrait Now Hangs In National Museum of African American History and Culture

Breonna Taylor‘s likeness and image have been kept alive and circulating widely on t-shirts and on murals thanks to the striking portrait by famed artist Amy Sherald.

On Friday, Taylor’s famous portrait that graced the cover of the September 2020 issue of Vanity Fair will now hang in the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), which is part of the Smithsonian, in a new exhibition called “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.”

The graceful portrait, which is now co-owned by the NMAAHC in Washington, D.C. and The Speed Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, depicts Taylor in a flowing turquoise gown, beaming with statuesque beauty and an engagement ring on her finger — a nod to the married life that was to come before her life was tragically cut short.

“I am honored and proud of the work the museum has accomplished over the past five years to share African American history and culture with the world,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Taylor’s display is part of the the Black Lives Matter movement installation.

National Museum of African American History and Culture Celebrates Fifth Anniversary

In September, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will celebrate five years as the nation’s largest cultural destination dedicated to exploring the African American story and its impact on history. After operating virtually for 10 years, the museum opened on the National Mall Sept. 24, 2016.

The museum will honor its fifth anniversary, themed “Living History,” with a season of new offerings, including the Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap CD and book and an art exhibition exploring the Black Lives Matter movement, violence against African Americans and how art depicts Black resilience. Also this fall, the museum will open an exhibition exploring the Reconstruction era; a virtual museum initiative, called Searchable Museum; and offer online and in-person programming to engage people around the world in African American history and culture.

“I am honored and proud of the work the museum has accomplished over the past five years to share African American history and culture with the world,” said Kevin Young, the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Our anniversary theme, ‘Living History,’ aptly captures the current moment and our mission—and inspires many of our efforts this year. Connecting the past to the present and the future is a hallmark of our work.”

During its first five years, the museum has welcomed more than 7.5 million visitors in person and more than 15.4 million visitors to its website. Its social channels have had more than 604 million impressions and gained more than 630,000 followers.

The museum opened with 12 permanent exhibitions and has hosted an additional 17 temporary exhibitions on topics ranging from African Americans in World War I to how The Oprah Winfrey Show helped shape American culture. It has hosted more than 250 public programs and is actively collecting items to document the history of the contemporary social justice movement.

“This is a very good time to thank the thousands of people, from presidents and patrons to visitors and volunteers, who have made our museum strong,” Young said. “By passionately pursuing our mission, we honor the community whose strength and perseverance gave birth to the world’s largest institution dedicated to preserving and exploring African American history and culture.”

Upcoming Highlights    

• August 20: The Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap was released. This first-of-its-kind collection chronicles hip-hop’s growth and impact from parks in the Bronx to worldwide influence. Included in the anthology are 129 tracks spread across nine CDs, along with a 300-page coffee table book featuring 11 essays from prominent music scholars, authors and journalists covering topics such as entrepreneurship, graffiti, women in hip-hop and more, as well as extensive notes on each track.
• September 10: The “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.” exhibition will open in the museum’s “Visual Art and the American Experience” space. The updated exhibition space will explore the Black Lives Matter movement, violence against African Americans and how art depicts Black resistance, resilience and protest. As part of this update, the museum will display the newly acquired portrait of Breonna Taylor painted by renowned artist Amy Sherald. 
• September 24: “Make Good the Promises: Reconstruction and Its Legacies” is a 4,300-square-foot exhibition exploring the Reconstruction era through an African American lens. It will feature 175 objects, 200 photographs, 15 audio, video and interactive programs, and a companion book. The exhibition will explore the deep divisions and clashing visions about how to rebuild the nation after slavery. It will connect that era to today’s efforts to make good on the promises of the Constitution.

National Museum of African American History and Culture to Jointly Acquire Amy Sherald’s Painting of Breonna Taylor

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is in talks with the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky to jointly acquire a painting of Breonna Taylor by Amy Sherald that first appeared on the cover of the September 2020 issue of Vanity Fair. The museum plans to display the portrait later this year.

Sherald’s portrait depicts Taylor in a blue flowing gown, designed by Jasmine Elder of the Atlanta-based fashion brand Jibri. Sherald has said that producing this image keeps Breonna alive forever. The portrait will be purchased from the artist, who plans to donate proceeds to causes that support social-justice reform.

Sherald is an American painter who documents the contemporary African American experience through portraits. She is best known for her portrait of former First Lady Michelle Obama featured in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. Another portrait by Sherald, Grand Dame Queenie, is on display in the museum’s art gallery.

On Friday, September 18, the National Museum of African American History and Culture will reopen to the public.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture will begin a gradual, phased reopening for the Museum. The museum will be putting safety first  with new measures in place to protect everyone’s health.  Free,  timed-entry passes will be required for entry. Please review the important information below as you plan your visit.

Learn more about the NMAAHC reopening here: Welcome Back

NMAAHC To Close March 14

The following is a statement from the National Museum of African American History and Culture:

As a public health precaution due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), the National Museum of African American History and Culture will temporarily close to the public starting Saturday, March 14.

We are committed to ensuring the health and safety of all our visitors, employees, and volunteers. We are in close communication with local health officials and the Centers for Disease Control. Due to the rapidly changing nature of the situation, we are not announcing a re-opening date at this time.

We will provide updates on a week-to-week basis via our website. Follow @NMAAHC on Twitter for updates about the museum's operating status. In the meantime, we invite you to visit NMAAHC.si.edu to explore our virtual exhibitions, online collections and educational resources.

Steph Curry's new sneaker inspired by National Museum of African American History & Culture

Although NBA star Stephen Curry is sidelined with an injury, Under Armour continues to release fresh colorways of his latest signature shoe, the Curry 7. The latest look is inspired by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., arriving just in time for Black History Month.

The limited-edition Under Armour Curry 7 “Our History,” according to the brand, was inspired by the Golden State Warriors’ trip to the museum in February 2018 as well as Curry’s fascination with the venue, which was designed by architect David Adjaye. Under Armour said the brand and the baller reflected on the trip when coming up with the design and concept behind the BHM shoe.

The Curry 7 “Our History” shoe features tiers of brown, olive and bronze (as well as hits of neon green), which is reminiscent of the museum’s three-tiered exterior. Further diving into the theme, Under Armour placed the museum’s longitude and latitude coordinates on the heel tab.

The Under Armour Curry 7 “Our History” arrives Jan. 20 on UA.com and at UA Brand Houses and select retailers, and it will retail for $140. Ahead of the release, a limited number of pairs will drop on Jan. 18 on the SC30 product wall at the Chase Center Warriors Shop at Thrive City in San Francisco.

[SOURCE: YAHOO]

No Passes Required and Extended Holiday Hours For National Museum of African American History & Culture

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture will welcome visitors for no-pass entry and extended hours next Thursday, Dec. 26 through Monday, Dec. 30.

Starting on Dec. 26, the museum will be open 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Individuals will be able to enter the museum without a pass on Dec. 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. Groups of 10 or more require a pass every day. Regular visitation procedures will resume Dec. 31. The museum’s full visitation policies are found at nmaahc.si.edu/visit.