The Museum has received nearly seven million visitors since its inauguration on September 24, 2016. (Corrigan 64). The over four-hundred thousand square-foot galleries, situated National Mall next to the Washington DC Monument, are the nation’s most prominent social purpose (Towle 119). It primarily explored, chronicled, and presented the Black-American narrative and its impact on American and international history. This Museum is the only public historical institution dedicated to documenting African-American lifestyle, tradition, and culture (Terrell 2). It was instituted the year 2003 by Congress, following many years of work to enhance and showcase the contributions of African-Americans (Etges & Dean 34). Until now, the Museum has amassed over thirty-six thousand artifacts, and almost one hundred thousand people individuals have been honored.
The Museum premiered to the public on September 24, 2016, as the Smithsonian Institution’s 19th and most recent historic center (Simmons 4). For more than 150 years, the fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution has formed thoughts regarding being American (Dodson 732). Sanctioned in 1868, three years after abolishing subjection, the fourteenth Amendment filled a progressive need—to characterize African Americans as equivalent residents under the law.
The Joyful Kids A.B.C. Activity Book series welcomes parental figures and instructors to help kids’ positive character improvement while additionally developing their language and proficiency abilities with exercises, historical center items, and new words (Gruenewald 122). The museum’s records are still kept and continue to be digitalized over the years as they create a culture and history that leaves many people longing to visit the Museum.
Works-Cited
Corrigan, M. B. “Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture, A Slave Ship Speaks the Wreck of the Henrietta Marie.” Journal of American History, vol 93, no. 1, 2006, pp. 166-171.
Dodson, Howard. “A Place of Our Own: The National Museum of African American History and Culture.” Callaloo, vol 38, no. 4, 2015, pp. 729-741.
Etges, A., & Dean, D. (2019). “A Fool’s errand”: Lonnie Bunch and the Creation of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. International Public History, 2(2), 32-49.
Gruenewald, T. (2021). Progress versus Social Justice: Memory at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Journal of American Culture, 44(2), 116-129.
Melish, J., Chatelain, M., & Jeffries, H. (2017). Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, D.C. Journal of American History, 104(1), 145-161.
Miles, T. (2017). Review: National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Public Historian, 39(2), 82-86.
Rice, Faun. “National Museum of African American History and Culture: A New Integration?” Curator: The Museum Journal, vol 60, no. 2, 2017, pp. 249-258.
Simmons, Deanna. “Museum Review: The History Galleries of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington, DC.” Saber and Scroll, A Publication of the APUS Historical Studies Honor Society Journal, vol 9, no. 2, 2020.
Terrell, Danielle A. “The Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture.” SLIS Connecting, vol 9, no. 2-13, 2020.
Towle, Ashley. “National Museum of African American History and Culture.” American Journalism, vol 34, no. 1, 2017, pp. 119-120.
Tuliza Fleming. “Bully Pulpit: What are Museums for?” Panorama: Journal of the Association of Historians of American Art, Vol 3. No. 1, 2017, pp. 1-2.