A Place for All People

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E L P O E A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

Smithsonian Institution

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Photo by Alan Karchmer/NMAAHC

Introducing the

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE

The journey to establish

this museum began a century ago. It is a place where all can gather to remember, reflect, and

embrace America’s story:

a place for all people.

Souvenir coin bank for the National Negro Memorial, ca. 1926 (top view)

This coin bank depicts a proposed national African American museum that was approved by Congress in 1929 but never built.

Gift from the Ball-Haagland family in memory of Robert Ball

In September 2016, the newest Smithsonian museum will open in Washington, D.C. The journey to establish this museum began a century ago, with a call for a national memorial to honor the contributions of African American Civil War veterans. After decades of efforts by private citizens, organizations, and members of Congress, federal legislation was passed in 2003 to create the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Since then, thousands of artifacts have been collected to fill the inspiring new building that has risen on the National Mall.

This poster exhibit celebrates the fulfillment of this long-held dream. Through its exhibitions and programs, the museum provides a lens for understanding American history through the African American experience. It is a place where all can gather to remember, reflect, and embrace America’s story: a place for all people.

“The Time Has Come: Report to the President and to the Congress,” National Museum of African American History and Culture Plan for Action Presidential Commission, April 2, 2003 Gift of Judge Robert Leon Wilkins

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“We’vE Got to tELl tHE unvaRnISHED tRutH.” – John Hope Franklin, American historian and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The Hughes Family near Alexandria, Virginia, 1861-62 This detail from a larger photograph depicts two enslaved women, sisters-in-law Lucinda Hughes and Frances Hughes, and several of their children: William, Fannie, Mary, Martha, Julia, and Harriet.

“IN EVERY HUMAN BREAST, GOD HAS IMPLANTED A PRINCIPLE, WHICH WE CALL

LOVE OF FREEDOM; I T I S I M PAT I E N T O F O P P R ES S I O N , A N D PA N T S F O R D E L I V E R A N C E . ” –Phillis Wheatley, American poet, 1774

tHIS IS a sHaReD aMeRICan StORy.

Teapot Made by Peter Bentzon, ca. 1817-29

Despite the legal limits placed on free blacks, early black entrepreneurs served as role models, philanthropists, and community leaders. Peter Bentzon, born free in the Caribbean, was educated and trained as a silversmith in Philadelphia. Bentzon’s success afforded him opportunities to define his own freedom, even in a racist society.

Nat Turner’s Bible, ca. 1830

Five hundred years ago, a new form of slavery transformed Africa, Europe, and the Americas. For the first time, human beings were viewed as commodities to be bought, sold, and exploited to make enormous profits. This system changed the world.

The United States was created in this context, forged by slavery as well as a radical new concept, freedom. This is a shared American story, a shared past, told through the lives of African Americans who helped form the nation.

Point of Pines slave cabin, Edisto Island, S.C., ca. 1853

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This cabin was originally built to house enslaved African Americans on a plantation in South Carolina. The four walls offered little privacy and no security. But the enslaved men, women, and children who lived here found ways to make such quarters a home. After freedom, many African Americans continued to live in the cabins they had occupied during slavery Gift of The Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society

Nat Turner, an enslaved minister, is thought to have been carrying this Bible when he was captured after leading one of the most infamous slave rebellions. A man of remarkable intellect, Turner used his mobility as a

preacher and knowledge of scripture to organize a slave revolt in 1831.

Gift of Maurice A. Person and Noah and Brooke Porter

Child’s Shackles, before 1860

Shackles like these were used on captive Africans on slave ships bound for the New World.

Men, women, and children were subjected to the horrors of the Middle Passage after being taken from their families and enslaved.

Over 12,500,000 souls experienced the forced migration to the Americas.

Shards of Stained Glass from the Bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, 1963

On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The church, which had been the starting point for many civil rights marches in the city, was targeted by white supremacists angered by the court-ordered desegregation of local schools. The explosion killed four girls, ages 11 to 14. The deaths shocked the nation, and spurred activists to push harder in the quest for civil rights.

Gift from the Trumpauer-Mulholland Collection

“We ClaIm ExaCtly tHE same RigHts, pRIvIleGEs anD IMmunItIEs as arE Enjoyed by WHIte men—

WE aSk notHIng MoRe

anD Will be Content wItH notHIng lEss.”

—Report of the Colored Convention, Montgomery, Alabama, 1867

The years after the Civil War and Reconstruction were hopeful and disheartening for African Americans.

With the end of slavery, they had hoped to attain full citizenship. Instead they found themselves battling a new form of oppression—segregation. In the face of these attacks, African Americans created institutions and communities to help them survive and thrive. Through their struggle, they challenged the nation to live up to its promises of freedom and equality.

Skirt and Blouse Worn by Carlotta Walls on First Day at Little Rock Central High School, 1957

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that segregated education was unconstitutional.

But across the South, governments and school systems resisted the order to desegregate. In 1957, the Arkansas NAACP selected nine students to integrate Little Rock Central High School. Carlotta Walls, age 14, was the youngest of the “Little Rock Nine.” After state officials barred the students from entering on the first day of classes, President Eisenhower authorized federal troops to escort them to school.

Gift of Carlotta Walls LaNier

The Tuskegee Airmen’s Stearman Kaydet

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

As the nation prepared to enter World War II, African Americans serving in the segregated armed forces had to convince the military to allow them to become pilots.

The first group of candidates, known as the Tuskegee Airmen, trained at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama. Many of them flew this training aircraft to pass the tests administered by the War Department.

Oak Church Pew #58 from Quinn Chapel AME Church

Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is the oldest black congregation in Chicago. Founded in 1844, the church has occupied its present building since 1891. It was an important force behind the creation of several local institutions, including Provident Hospital and Training School Association, established to train black nurses and serve black and white patients.

Gift of Quinn Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Chicago, Illinois

“I am anD aLWays WIlL bE a CataLySt for CHanGE.”

“ ACROSS THIS C OUNTRY, YOUNG BLACK MEN AND WOMEN

HAVE BEEN INFECTED WITH A FEVER OF AFFIRMATION .

THEY ARE SAYING,

‘WE ARE BLACK AND BEAUTIFUL.’ ” —Hoyt Fuller, American author, editor, educator, and critic, 1968

Searching Door-to-Door for Katrina Survivors, 2005

—Shirley Chisholm, American politician, educator, and author

Shirley Chisholm Presidential Campaign Poster, 1972

African Americans fought for power over their lives, and political office—local, state, or national— moved black people toward that goal. Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress and the first to campaign for the presidency.

Under the slogan “Unbought and Unbossed,” she ran for the Democratic Party nomination in 1972, but lost. Beset by both racist and sexist opposition, this daughter of immigrants from Barbados and Guyana advocated for poor inner-city residents, saying, “I am and always will be a catalyst for change.”

Gifted with pride from Ellen Brooks

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

While the modern Civil Rights Movement achieved many victories, it did not end the struggle for freedom. Black Americans have continued to wrestle with racial discrimination, cultural exclusion, and economic inequality. Just as the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements pursued goals of equity and justice in the 20th century, Americans must decide how to advance the same goals in the 21st.

In 2005 Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding devastated New Orleans and surrounding areas. Many of the storm’s victims were black and poor, and their suffering was compounded by slow and inadequate relief efforts. With 80 percent of the city flooded after the storm, rescue crews went door-to-door looking for survivors among the 60,000 stranded residents. They marked each searched building with the date, identity of the search crew, areas of the building inspected, and number of casualties— in this case, none. Over a thousand residents were not as fortunate.

Radio Raheem’s Boombox, 1989

In the 1980s, music from boomboxes filled city streets with the era’s latest sounds: Hip-Hop, a style of music that channeled the frustrations, hopes, and day-to-day experiences of black youth in America. In Spike Lee’s 1989 movie Do the Right Thing, the character Radio Raheem proudly blasted Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” from this boombox as he walked through his Brooklyn neighborhood. Raheem is later killed by a police officer using excessive force—a scene that would echo in events that sparked the Black Lives Matter Movement.

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

“FREedom Is nEvER GIven; It IS Won.” —A. Philip Randolph, American labor leader and civil rights activist, 1937

Powder Horn , 1777 Pvt. Prince Simbo of Connecticut used this powder horn during the Revolutionary War.

MAKE A WAy

“WHAT’S REMARKABLE IS NOT HOW MANY FAILED IN THE FACE OF DISCRIMINATION, BUT RATHER HOW MANY MEN AND WOMEN OVERCAME THE ODDS; HOW MANY WERE ABLE TO MAKE A WAY OUT OF NO WAY FOR THOSE LIKE ME WHO WOULD COME AFTER THEM.” — President Barack Obama, 2008

How do you make a way out of no way?

For generations, African Americans worked collectively to live with dignity in the midst of racial oppression. Through education, religious institutions, businesses, the press, and voluntary associations, black men and women created ways to serve and strengthen their communities. They established networks of mutual support, cultivated leadership, and improved social and economic opportunities. They also developed a tradition of activism that paved the way for broader social change.

Workers’ Time Clock from the National Baptist Publishing Board, ca. 1912

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Through enterprise, African Americans sought greater control over their social, economic, and educational lives. In 1896, Richard Henry Boyd founded the National Baptist Publishing Board in Nashville, Tennessee. Created to enable black churches to produce their own worship and education materials, the company became a hub for many black business ventures in Nashville.

Gift of Dr. and Mrs. T.B. Boyd, III and R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

“Lifting as We Climb” Banner, ca. 1924

African American women mobilized and organized to make ways out of no way. On local, state, and national levels, women’s organizations promoted education, self-help, and support for black communities.

This banner, created by the Oklahoma Federation of Negro Women’s Clubs, features the motto of the National Association of Colored Women, founded in 1896.

Desk from the Hope School, 1925-54

Education has always been a path to freedom. The Rosenwald Fund, created by educator Booker T. Washington and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, helped open up that path for African American children in the rural, segregated South. Between 1917 and 1932 the Rosenwald Fund supported the construction of 5,300 schools in 15 states, including the Hope School in Pomaria, South Carolina.

Gift of the Hope School Community Center, Pomaria, SC

A sEnSE oF pLACe Tulsa, Oklahoma

In late May 1921, clashes between black and white residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma, spiraled into one of the deadliest race riots in American history. White mobs rampaged through the prosperous African American community of Greenwood, destroying black-owned property and murdering black people. Five-year-old George Monroe, whose home was destroyed during the riot, collected these scorched pennies from the street as the community began to piece their lives and neighborhood back together.

“THE ACHE FOR HOME LIVES IN ALL OF US, THE SAFE PLACE WHERE

WE CAN GO AS WE ARE

AND NOT BE QUESTIONED.” —Maya Angelou, American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, 1986

A sense of place has deeply shaped African American history and culture.

A multifaceted range of African American communities and identities have formed and changed in all corners of the country and in turn influenced the regions around them. Their evolution reveals a set of stories as diverse as the landscape itself.

Greenville, Mississippi

Gift of Scott Ellsworth

Lyles Station, Indiana

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Lyles Station, a community in southern Indiana, offers a window into the largely unknown story of free black pioneers on the American frontier before the Civil War. African American farmers have owned and worked their own land in and near what became known as Lyles Station since 1815.

Joshua Lyles originally used this plow to cultivate his family’s garden.

Gift of the Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation

From the late 1940s through the 1970s, photographer Henry Clay Anderson portrayed black life in the city of Greenville, Mississippi, from the inside.

Seen through Anderson’s lens, as with this circa 1960 image of a couple outside of his Nelson Street photography studio, Greenville is a place of spirit and resolve.

It is a place where the black middle-class refused to be defined and held captive by the systemic injustice and racial stereotypes of the time.

“Double V” Handkerchief, World War II

In 1942 the Pittsburgh Courier, an African American newspaper, launched the Double Victory Campaign, which stood for “Victory Abroad and Victory at Home.” Victory abroad championed military success against fascism overseas, and victory at home demanded equality for African Americans in the United States. This fight for a “Double Victory” has reverberated throughout the long history of the African American military experience.

Women’s U.S. Army Service Hat Worn by Brigadier General Hazel Johnson-Brown, 1980

“DEAR WIFE, I HAVE ENLISTED IN THE ARMY… AND THOUGH GREAT IS THE DIFFICULTY YET I LOOK FORWARD TO A BRIGHTER DAY WHEN I SHALL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY OF SEEING YOU IN THE FULL ENJOYMENT OF FREEDOM.”

The first African American woman to achieve the military rank of general, Hazel Johnson joined the army as a nurse in 1955.

In 1979 she was promoted to general and appointed chief of the Army Nurse Corps. She also served as the director of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Nursing.

Throughout her life she distinguished herself as a military and public healthcare professional.

Gift of Alice Calberb F. Royal

—Pvt. Samuel Cabble, soldier in the 55th Massachusetts Infantry, United States Colored Troops, 1863

From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror, African Americans have served in the United States military. They defended their country and expected their sacrifice to earn the right to liberty, citizenship, and equality for themselves and their community. African Americans hoped that despite the prejudice and discrimination that shaped both the military and the broader society, succeeding in the military would contribute to a changed America where racial equality was possible.

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

DoubLe VICtory

Medal of Honor, 1952

This Medal of Honor was awarded posthumously to Sgt. Cornelius H. Charlton for his bravery during the Korean War in 1951.

After his wounded platoon leader was evacuated, Sergeant Charlton led three assaults on enemy positions. Although seriously wounded, Charlton conducted a fourth assault alone. He was wounded again by a grenade, but silenced the enemy guns before he died.

Gift of Ray R. and Patricia A. D. Charlton

“THE RIGHT OF EVERY AMERICAN

TO FIRST-CLASS

Briana Scurry’s Jersey, 1999

One of the first African Americans to play professional women’s soccer, Briana Scurry was named starting goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national team in 1994. She wore this jersey during the 1999 World Cup final against China, which drew the largest attendance in U.S. women's soccer history.

Gift of Briana Scurry

bEyond tHe pLayIng FiElDs

CITIZENSHIP IS THE

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE OF OUR TIME.”

—Jackie Robinson, American Major League Baseball player, 1969

Sports matter far beyond the playing fields.

Historically, African American athletes were systematically denied opportunities to compete at the highest levels. Yet as one of the earliest and most high-profile spaces to accept African Americans on terms of relative equality, sports have also served as a measuring stick for racial progress.

Beyond the impressive records of individual accomplishments, the history of sports also demonstrates how African American culture has enriched the nation.

Carl Lewis’s Track Shoes, ca. 1994

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 1999 the International Olympic Committee chose Carl Lewis as the “Sportsman of the Century.” During his Olympic career, Lewis earned nine gold medals and one silver medal. At the 1984 Olympic Games, he matched Jesse Owens’s historic performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by winning four gold medals in track and field.

Gift of Carl Lewis Estate

Bayou Classic Trophy, 2014

Since 1974, the annual football game between Grambling State and Southern University has showcased the prestigious athletic programs of these two historically black universities.

The winning team takes home the Bayou Classic trophy. This Waterford crystal trophy was retired after the 2014 contest.

Gift from the Southern University System, Southern University and A&M College, University of Louisiana System, Grambling State University

“I bELIEvE

THat THE DanCE CaME FROM THE PEOPlE anD THaT It SHOULD ALWayS bE DElIvERED bACk TO THE PEOPLE.” – Alvin Ailey, American choreographer and activist

Smithsonian Institution

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Revelations, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, 1961 Photography by Jack Mitchell © Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation, Inc. and Smithsonian Institution. All rights reserved.

CuLtuRE sHapes lIves.

“ THIS ? THIS IS MY IDENTITY.” Traditional Grain Storage II, Mary Jackson, 2015

Culture connects people and places across time. Mary Jackson’s grainstorage basket, made from bulrush and oak strips, draws on basket weaving traditions that originated in rice-growing areas of the West African coast. These baskets, for shipping rice and seeds, were historically made by black men in the South Carolina Lowcountry. As a child, Jackson learned the craft from family members.

–Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae singer, musician, and songwriter

Culture shapes lives. It’s in the food people eat, the languages they speak, the art they create, and the many other ways they express themselves. African American and many other cultures of the African diaspora were born out of the traumatic history of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and developed through traditions made and remade on new shores. These expressive cultural traditions reflect the history, values, beliefs, and creative spirit of these groups.

Dashiki OWNED BY MARGARET LOUISE LYNCH BELCHER, LATE 20TH CENTURY

Clothing is a form of cultural communication. Since the 1960s African Americans have worn African-inspired clothing like dashikis to express black unity and self-pride. Buttons, hats, and t-shirts carry messages that celebrate cultural heroes or protest racial injustices.

In wearing these clothes, African Americans exercise a freedom of speech that racial oppression long denied them.

Gift of Kimberly Hunley

Ecuadorian Boat Seat, ca. 1945 A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Stories teach cultural values. This boat seat is carved with the image of Anansi the spider, a trickster character found in folktales of the African diaspora. It was used by Deborah Azareno, an Afro-Ecuadorian woman, as she passed on these stories to her grandson.

Gift of Juan García Salazar

a SoUnDtRaCK

“ MUSIC IS OUR WITNESS

to SToRIEs

AND OUR ALLY. THE BEAT IS THE CONFESSION WHICH REC O GNIZES, CHANGES,

AND CONQUERS TIME.”

Chuck Berry’s Gibson Guitar, “Maybellene,” 1959

Ensemble Associated with Marian Anderson’s 1939 Lincoln Memorial Concert (Original Skirt and Redesigned Jacket with Original Trim)

In a historic performance, Marian Anderson gave voice to the principles of freedom, justice, and equality. Renowned for her rich, vibrant contralto, Anderson built her career singing with orchestras around the world.

But when she came to Washington, D.C., the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her sing at their concert house, Constitution Hall. In response Walter White, executive secretary of the NAACP, and Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes arranged for Anderson to perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The concert, held on Easter Sunday, April 9, 1939, was a watershed moment in civil rights history.

Gift of Ginette DePreist in memory of James DePreist

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Chuck Berry is the primary sonic architect of rock and roll. As a lyricist, he spoke about youth culture with humor and insight. As a showman, he paved a way for the outrageous moves of Elvis Presley and Jimi Hendrix. And as a guitarist, his solos and riffs helped establish the structure of guitar-driven rock music. Chuck Berry’s sound helped define a generation.

Donation of Charles E. Berry

—James Baldwin, American author and activist, 1979

The arrival of the first Africans on American shores set a new path for American music. For over 400 years, African American musical creativity has generated, transformed, contributed to and enriched a vast array of musical forms, from classical and sacred to rock and roll and Hip-Hop. The musical creations of African Americans are a soundtrack to stories of hope and struggle, faith and perseverance, culture and tradition, and pride and liberation.

J Dilla’s Midi Production Center, 2000

James Dewitt Yancey, known as J Dilla, was one of the most prolific Hip-Hop producers ever to touch a drum machine.

A native of Detroit, he performed with the group Slum Village and collaborated with many Hip-Hop, soul, and R&B artists. His vast knowledge of music contributed to his creative and innovative beats, making him perhaps the most sought-after producer of the 1990s and 2000s.

Gift of Maureen Yancey

Ira Aldridge Playbill, 1857

tHE pOWeR of pERfoRmanCe

“ WHAT THE BLACK ACTOR HAS MANAGED TO GIVE ARE MOMENTS—INDELIBLE MOMENTS, CREATED, MIRACULOUSLY, BEYOND THE CONFINES OF THE SCRIPT: HINTS OF REALIT Y, SMUGGLED LIKE CONTRABAND INTO A MAUDLIN TALE, AND WITH ENOUGH FORCE, IF UNLEASHED, TO SHATTER THE TALE TO FRAGMENTS.” —James Baldwin, American author and activist, 1976

Poster from Oscar Micheaux’s The Exile, 1931

From the 1910s through the 1940s, a separate industry dedicated to producing films for black audiences thrived in segregated America. The most successful black filmmaker of this era was Oscar Micheaux. Between 1919 and 1948 Micheaux wrote, directed, and produced approximately 40 films, including The Exile, the first black-cast feature film with sound.

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Through their achievements in theater, film, and television, African Americans have broken barriers, enriched American culture, and inspired audiences around the world.

Over time, the roles that black artists played on the stage and screen reflected changing aspirations, struggles, and realities for black people in American society. As African Americans gained more freedom to express their creative talents and visions, they used the power of performance to fuel social change.

Costumes from The Jeffersons, ca. 1975-79

Developed in 1975 as a spin-off from the series All in the Family, The Jeffersons told the story of an African American couple who “moved on up” to the ranks of the upper-middle class.

In addition to depicting an affluent black family, the show broke new ground by including an interracial married couple as supporting characters. Led by talented stars Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, and Marla Gibbs, The Jeffersons became one of the most popular sitcoms in TV history.

The first American actor of any color to achieve fame overseas, Ira Aldridge also proved to the world that black actors could play Shakespearean roles. In the early 1820s, Aldridge performed in New York with William Brown’s African Theatre, the first African American theater company. He then journeyed to England and made his debut on the London stage in 1825.

Aldridge spent the rest of his life touring Great Britain, Europe, and Russia, and became a British citizen in 1863.

“ I DON’T BELIEVE THERE’S SUCH A THING AS ‘BLACK ART’ THOUGH THERE’S CERTAINLY BEEN A BLACK EXPERIENCE. I’VE LIVED IT. BUT IT’S ALSO

AN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.” —Charles Alston, American artist and educator, 1968

Kevin E. Cole (b.1960), Increase Risk with Emotional Faith, 2008 Mixed media on wood

When artist Kevin Cole was 18, his grandfather showed him a tree in his Tarry, Arkansas, neighborhood from which African American men were routinely lynched for attempting to vote. When these men were killed, their neckties would be wrapped around the hanging noose. Cole’s chilling memory of this event inspired him to incorporate the abstracted form of the necktie in his work. By doing so, he seeks to transform this gruesome legacy into his contemporary vision of the inner strength, resiliency, and self-determination of African American men.

Gift of Greg and Yolanda Head, © Kevin Cole

Visual art provides a glimpse into the struggles and triumphs of the creator’s experience. Through painting, sculpture, and works on paper, African American artists have revealed how they view and interpret their world. From earlier artists such as Robert S. Duncanson and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller to contemporary artists such as Amy Sherald and Kevin Cole, each comments on life in a visual language of their own making. While the works may delight and stimulate the senses, each, in its own way, also contributes to the understanding of an era.

Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872), The Garden of Eden, 1852 Oil on canvas A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Robert Duncanson’s painting is part of a long tradition of artists portraying biblical subjects in their work. His decision to focus on the richly imagined flora and fauna of the Garden of Eden, as opposed to Adam and Eve, reveals his professional specialty in landscape painting. This is a smaller version of a painting Duncanson presented to Rev. Charles Avery, a well-known abolitionist, for his efforts on behalf of the enslaved.

Gift of Louis Moore Bacon

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877-1968), Ethiopia, c. 1921 Painted plaster This sculpture by Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller is widely considered the first Pan-Africanist artwork created in the United States. It provides a visual embodiment of the New Negro Movement—an era during the 1920s characterized by a marked increase in artistic and cultural production by black people, and a consciousness of racial heritage and pride. Through her sculpture, Fuller linked the cultural achievements of ancient Egypt as well as the Ethiopian resistance to colonial rule to a narrative of African American struggle and achievement.

Gift of the Fuller Family , © Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

IMaGE PoWER MAY SEE THEMSELVES “

DAGUERREOTYPES, AMBROTYPES, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND ELECTROTYPES, GOOD AND BAD, NOW ADORN OR DISFIGURE ALL OUR DWELLINGS. . . .

MEN OF ALL CONDITIONS

Young woman receives her voter registration card, Fayette County, TN, 1960, Ernest C. Withers

Ernest Withers (1922–2007) was a noted photographer known for his work in Memphis, Tennessee. He also had a longstanding career photographing the Civil Rights Movement. © Ernest C. Withers Trust

AS OTHERS SEE THEM.

WHAT WAS ONCE THE EXCLUSIVE LUXURY OF THE RICH AND GREAT IS NOW WITHIN REACH OF ALL. –Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist, author, and statesman, 1861

”

The power of images is one African Americans have understood since commercial photography was introduced to the United States in 1839. Many African Americans used picture-taking as a tool for self-expression and self-representation.

Creatively, photography was used as a lens through which beauty, dignity, and social change was documented, highlighting the everyday and monumental moments of black life in America.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Dexter Scott King, 1962, James H. Karales James Karales (1930–2002), was a photojournalist whose work covering the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march produced some of the most iconic images of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Here, Karales captures an intimate moment between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his young son, Dexter Scott King.

Gift of Monica Karales and the Estate of James Karales, © Estate of James Karales

Rude Boy, early 1980s, Jamel Shabazz Jamel Shabazz (b. 1960) is a Brooklyn, New York, based photographer.

Taken in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn in the 1980s, the style and pose reflects the street style common among young Caribbean men of this era.

Gift of Jamel Shabazz, © Jamal Shabazz

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Unicycle Basketball, ca. 1960, Lloyd W. Yearwood

Lloyd Yearwood (1925–2011) has been considered the “Dean of Harlem Photographers.”

He dedicated four decades of his life to documenting the lives of those who resided in and visited Harlem, New York. Yearwood was also the personal photographer of community activist and Nation of Islam minister Malcolm X. © Estate of Lloyd W. Yearwood

“FREeInG youRsElF Was one tHIng; CLaIMIng oWneRSHIp oF tHat FREED SElF Was anotHeR.”

–Toni Morrison, American novelist, from Beloved, 1987

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Grand Dame Queenie, 2012 Amy Sherald (b. 1973), oil on canvas © Amy Sherald

“THE FORM OF THE BUILDING SUGGESTS A VERY UPWARD MOBILITY. THIS IS NOT A STORY ABOUT PAST TRAUMA. IT’S NOT A STORY OF A PEOPLE THAT WERE TAKEN DOWN, BUT ACTUALLY A PEOPLE THAT OVERCAME AND TRANSFORMED AN ENTIRE SUPERPOWER INTO WHAT IT IS TODAY.” –David Adjaye, NMAAHC lead designer

The artifacts and images featured on these posters represent a small sampling of what will be on display when the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens its doors on September 24, 2016. They also represent a living history, one that will continue to expand and evolve in the years to come.

The museum is located in the historic corridor of Washington, D.C., at a pivotal crossroads to the Lincoln Memorial, the White House, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol building. This symbolic location resonates with the museum’s mission of “giving voice to the centrality of the African American experience in American history.” With 13 inaugural exhibitions, changing exhibit galleries, an interactive learning center, a 350-seat theater, and a café, it will be a destination.

Detail of museum building exterior The museum’s façade, called the corona, consists of 3,523 bronzecolored cast-aluminum panels that form an intricate, gleaming envelope around the building.

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Building photo by Alan Karchmer/NMAAHC

But this is more than just a museum.

It is a celebration of the ascending spirit of a people. The building itself brings to life this spirit; in the intricate patterns of its façade you can see the echoes of the ornamental ironwork made by enslaved and free African American artisans in the South.

You can sense the rising rhythm of hope in the building’s angled silhouette, calling to mind a gesture of arms lifted in praise or triumph. Yes, this is more than a museum.

It is a statement; it is a prize; it is a gift to the people of our great nation.

Section of museum corona panel Designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond/ SmithGroup

National Museum of African American History and Culture building designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup

“this building will sing for all of us.”

– Lonnie G. Bunch, III, Founding Director, NMAAHC

A Place for All People: Introducing the National Museum of African American History and Culture is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the museum.

All images and objects from the Collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Building photo by Alan Karchmer/NMAAHC