DSU Group Visits DC’s African-American Museum – Photos

A bus and a passenger van traveled on Nov. 11 from Dover to Washington, D.C., with about 50 students, along with a few more faculty, staff and alumni members to become among the first members of the DSU community to experience the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in the nation’s capital.

For a wealth of images of the museum and some of the DSU folks that went on the trip, click on the below photo slideshow link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48216028@N03/sets/72157676531300076/show

The National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is the newest addition to the Smithsonian collection of museums and is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African-American life, history, and culture. Its grand opening took place on Sept. 24 and its tickets have been in high demand ever since.

Lori Crawford, DSU associate professor of visual arts, made the trip for the group possible as she was able to obtain some tickets that were set aside for educational institutions such as DSU.

Once there, the DSU group entered the NMAAHC and realized that the few hours that they would be there would not be long enough to see the four above-ground floors and three below-ground concourse levels. Those floors house more than 36,000 objects as well as countless multimedia exhibitions in a collection that reflects African-American history in community activism, family, the arts, sports, religion, civil rights, slavery and segregation.

Alicia Pinkett, a DSU senior studio art major, grew up in Washington D.C. and had visited several of the other Smithsonian museums throughout her life.

“Out of all the Smithsonian museums, (the NMAAHC) has more floors and history,” Ms. Pinkett said. “It made me even prouder to be an African-American, because of all of the accomplishments that are on display there.”

Duane Grimes, a freshman mass communications major from Wilmington, noted that part of the rich experience was coursing through the museum among thousands of other predominantly African-American people and being a part of the collective pride of the visitors who filled the museum.

“I really liked how there were a lot of older people there,” Mr. Grimes said.

Camille Kaye, a junior criminal justice major from New Jersey, noted that while the museum captured the entire African America story, it was mostly uplifting.

“It brought more of your attention on the successes than the hardship,” Ms. Kaye said. “There was more of the culture than the slavery.”

When it comes to the power of the NMAACH, Jannah Williams, a junior art major from Camden, Del., said it best for the DSU students who went there.

“It let me know that we as a people can be great, and it made me want to be great as well,” Ms. Williams said. “It is very motivational.”  

The museum was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African-Americans. To date, the museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become charter members. The museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19^th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

The NMAAHC is a public institution open to all, where anyone is welcome to participate, collaborate, and learn more about African-American history and culture. In the words of Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director of the museum, “there are few things as powerful and as important as a people, as a nation that is steeped in its history.”  

Photos and article by Carlos Holmes