[1]
In her book From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement, Andrea A. Burns documents the endeavors of African Americans to establish Black-owned museums in stride and motivated by certain sentiments of the Black Power movement of the 1960s. Focusing primarily on four of the first African American museums in America named The DuSable Museum of African American History, The International Afro-American Museum (IAM), The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (ANM), and the African American Museum of Philadelphia (AAMP), Burns illustrates how these museums were created and run by African Americans. Some of the historical figures in Burns’ narrative include Margaret (Black artist) and Charles Burroughs, Dr. Charles Wright, and museum director John Kinard who out of grassroot movements and extreme effort formed and oversaw operations they saw fit for reconstructing the representations and presentations of African American history. Burns allows her readers to know that like other museums, Black owned museums had to deal with financial, administrative, and internal conflicts, but oftentimes these conflicts were made even more difficult because of racially charged backlash, lack of support and legislation, and lack of funding. Having to deal with the mundane issues of running and creating a museum while facing hostility from non-Black Americans, the first African American museum activists and proprietors often showed remarkable fortitude and perseverance which lead to the establishment of community museums housing authentic artifacts and sincere reflections of African American history amongst a nation who rarely offered non-hegemonic, non-European culture at great and qualitative length. On this note, Burns also details more recent projects of historical sites which are primarily manned by White Americans trying to attract more diverse visitors such as Colonial Williamsburg. As a runner during my collegiate career, I had the opportunity to run through Colonial Williamsburg many times. Burns states that in 1994, in attempt to provide more inclusive history, some of the exhibits/historical interpretation which ensued at Colonial Williamsburg such as a slave auction replica and a program including African American/White Interpreters reenacting past histories of slavery at caused unrest amongst the Black community who questioned what the site's historical motives were[2]. I really appreciated Burns inclusion of places like Colonial Williamsburg because it truly shows the current dilemmas museums and historic sites encounter when they try to incorporate in the most tactful way possible a more authentic and welcoming narrative of America’s past. Though many sites today are trying (and to some) not successfully placing through more diverse programs, I believe that as long as museum personnel have audiences of all backgrounds in mind, they are on the right path to creating more holistic and respectful museums and exhibitions.
In reflection to current issues of underfunding for African American museums, writer Lindsay Tucker of the news outlet The Philadelphia Inquirer details the shortcomings of the AAMP today. She writes that after the death of George Floyd and in the midst of a global pandemic due to COVID-19, nation-wide calls for justice have ensued in order to eradicate racism and keep African American museums like the AAMP financially stable to continue Black history[3]. The horrendous murder of George Floyd by American law officers should not have been the pushing force for the continuation and attention and care of African American museums, but this tragic event is also one of the many which I believe fully illustrate the blatant racism still rampant in America that members of all communities who wish for racial and social justice would like to see diminish from American society. Tucker also mentions the location of the AAMP and how its nearness to a police station and a state prison causes visitation to be low, thus lowering the ability of museum staff to show the indispensable history of African Americans[4]. It is indeed sad that the location of museums can detract the attention of potential visitors; I would be a proponent of relocating the museum and to continually fund, replenish, and advertise what the AAMP has to offer. Though I have never personally been to the AAMP, as a citizen who is comparatively close to the museum and an African American public historian, I seek to visit the site in hopes to view magnificent displays of African American history and culture.
[2]Andrea A. Burns, From Storefront
to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement, (MA:
University of Massachusetts Press, 2013,) 143.
[3]Lindsay Tucker, As the Nation
Reckons with Racism, Philly’s African American History Museum is Underfunded,
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/african-american-museum-in-philadelphia-funding-cuts-penns-landing-20200910.html
[4]Ibid., As the Nation Reckons with
Racism.
Jeanette, I agree with your portrayal of the Black museum movement as fractured due to pressure from a society founded on white supremacy. These public historians and Black activists dealt with a white society pushing their work in directions they felt unnecessary and the endurance of these institutions prove that their efforts were undeniably meaningful. I kept thinking about the Society Hill debacle when reading your blog post, as that was a pretty explicit effort by a white community to derail Black museum work. I think endurance is the word I want to apply to the work of the Black museum movement. Despite lack of funding both at the conception of the museum and today, many of these organizations still function to some degree. Burns does note at the end that the continual surveying of community needs is what keeps these museums alive, and hopefully that will continue in the future.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette,
ReplyDeleteThe location of the museum has been heavy on my mind as well. Being from the area my school trips were more often than not to the museums in Olde City. However, they were always focused on the colonial history and we never visited the AAHM. I think that one of the best ways to make the museum more visible would be to pull it from the colonial context and place it somewhere that the institution could gain rightful recognition and visitors. The colonial whitewashing of Olde City continues to be problematic and overshadows the history of African Americans, and I think a position on the parkway or on the waterfront would definitely be more suited to visibility.
Paige
Jeanette, your description (and my own limited knowledge) of the double burden faced by African American museum founders and professionals matches my sense of the real meaning of -- the real burden behind -- W. E. B. Du Bois' notion of double consciousness, which, as I really doubt I need to explain to you, is the need felt by members of a repressed or devalued group to negotiate between what they think society thinks of them and what they think of themselves. Reading your post a few times I get the sense that African American INSTITUTIONS can also suffer from this burden; thank you for this complicated insight.
ReplyDelete