National African American History Museum - D.C.

One of the most interesting museums my wife and I visited in Washington D.C. during our March 2022 trip was the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The facility is operated by the Smithsonian and is the newest museum on the National Mall. Opened by President Obama in 2016, the African American history museum showcases a variety of fantastic exhibits on the history of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Civil War, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, black veterans and politicians, and African American schools. Since this was the only Smithsonian museum that I had not been to in the past (I visited our nation's capital with my family in 2007), the African American history museum was on my to-go list. I thoroughly enjoyed walking the floors and absorbing historical and cultural content that I can weave into my future lesson plans -- as a dedicated U.S. history teacher I am constantly looking for new ways to "beef up" my diverse curriculum. I enjoy discussing African American history with my students since blacks greatly contributed to the creation of the United States we know of today. Below, I have posted some of the museum artifacts I found to be fascinating. I would highly recommend visiting this marvelous treasure trove of black history and culture!!

One of the biggest exhibits at the museum was one on Barrack Obama, the first African American president. I distinctly remember when Obama was elected president in November 2008 -- this was a big moment for African Americans, who had faced much racial discrimination in the South fifty years prior. Also, Obama provided a fresh, charismatic (and brave) approach in the American government when the country slumped into one of the most disastrous economic recessions. The exhibit included international newspapers on Obama's historic election, Obama campaign buttons, Michelle Obama's inauguration dress, and many posters and photographs. Author's collections.

After the Civil War, the South employed Jim Crow Laws, which segregated public facilities and transportation. Pictured is a Southern Railway Company car -- I had the opportunity to walk through this vehicle. Large compartments with luxury seats and spacious bathrooms and water coolers for white passengers were at the front of the railway car, while smaller compartments and shared toilets for black passengers were located at the rear. African Americans were not permitted to ride in the white section of the train. Author's collections.

The outfit of a Pullman Train porter. African Americans had few job opportunities in the 1920s & 1930s -- one was a porter/attendant on the Pullman Trains, which crisscrossed the nation. Although the pay was inadequate, many blacks were blessed to be employed. When laborers began unionizing and demanding better working conditions (Knights of Labor, etc.), African Americans mobilized and created Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black union in the United States (1925). Author's collections.

Pictured is a block that was frequently used at slave auctions in the South during the first-half of the nineteenth century. After traveling the "Middle Passage" in chains, enslaved Africans would be showcased to plantation owners and potential buyers from this block. The tired and sick slaves would experience fear, humiliation, and uncertainty -- enslaved Africans were usually separated from loved ones and family for life. These blocks were found in public squares, hotels, courthouses, and at the docks. Author's collections.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's initial draft included discussions of slavery, however, the drafting committee omitted the subject since slavery would have contradicted the idea that America was a land filled with independent people. Thus, the Founding Fathers passed the issue of slavery on to the second generation of politicians (Henry Clay & Daniel Webster), who sought methods of compromise to resolve the burdens of slavery. Eventually, it would be during the time of the third generation of politicians (Abe Lincoln & Jefferson Davis) when a civil war, brother against brother, erupted to finally rid the sin of slavery from the United States. Author's collections. 

The museum also highlighted the numerous athletic accomplishments of African Americans. Pictured is a statue of two African American Olympians (200m runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos) who silently saluted Human Rights with a raised black-glove fist at the 1968 summer Olympics. This was a powerful moment and the demonstration is widely considered one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympics. I am quite familiar with the history of John Carlos since he ran track at East Texas State College for one year prior to transferring to a college in California. Author's collections.

Pictured is a jacket of an Alpha Kappa Alpha member. AKA was the first collegiate black sorority in the United States, established in January 1908. Today, there are more than 300,000 active members. Did you know? -- Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt were both honorary AKA members. Author's collections.

The museum had a wonderful collection of artifacts from black schoolhouses and colleges. Pictured here are student desks and a classroom warmer from Hope School, a 19th-century black academy in the South. Schools in the South remained segregated until the 1970s. Black schools and colleges frequently received less funding from state and local governments than white schools and colleges. Author's collections.

This may look like an ordinary church pew, but this object has an illustrated history. The pew was part of the original furnishings of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston's Beacon Neighborhood. The facility was led by Reverend Leonard Grimes, a staunch abolitionist, who welcomed fugitive slaves into the black congregation. The museum also had a Bible that belonged to Hattie McDaniel, the first African American receive an Oscar -- for her role in Gone with the Wind (1939). Author's collections.

A list of African American-friendly establishments in the South. During the Jim Crow Era, African Americans travelers usually looked at published "Green Books" to find restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and other public facilities in the South that were safe and accommodating to blacks. Author's collections.

A Spanish edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the immensely-popular, anti-slavery book by Harriet Beecher Stowe that was used as an abolitionist propaganda tool prior to the Civil War. Author's collections.