From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement

by Andrea A. Burns

Winner of the 2015 National Council on Public History Book Award
Today well over two hundred museums focusing on African American history and culture can be found throughout the United States and Canada. Many of these institutions trace their roots to the 1960s and 1970s, when the struggle for racial equality inspired a movement within the black community to make the history and culture of African America more "public."

This book tells the story of four of these groundbreaking the DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago (founded in 1961); the International Afro-American Museum in Detroit (1965); the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in Washington, D.C. (1967); and the African American Museum of Philadelphia (1976). Andrea A. Burns shows how the founders of these institutions, many of whom had ties to the Black Power movement, sought to provide African Americans with a meaningful alternative to the misrepresentation or utter neglect of black history found in standard textbooks and most public history sites. Through the recovery and interpretation of artifacts, documents, and stories drawn from African American experience, they encouraged the embrace of a distinctly black identity and promoted new methods of interaction between the museum and the local community.

Over time, the black museum movement induced mainstream institutions to integrate African American history and culture into their own exhibits and educational programs. This often controversial process has culminated in the creation of a National Museum of African American History and Culture, now scheduled to open in the nation's capital in 2015.

Genres: History, Grad School, Nonfiction, Sociology, American History, Race, Academic

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2013

Reviews

[lys · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's argument is that the Black Power Movement was fundamental to the development of African American history museums in the late twentieth century. Burns further asserts that maintaining this spirit of radicalism will remain important to the success of these museums in the future. Throughout her book, Burns raises interesting points on the broader cultural manifestations of Black Power and on questions of audience implicit in the production of public history.

The book is overall well-written, though it meanders at times. It could perhaps have been more interesting had Burns weighed more strongly on the side of her argument. Instead, we are left with a chronological history of events that often leaves the reader asking why he or she is reading at all.

[Courtney Homer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting (and readable) chronicle of black public history and museums, culminating with the design of the National Museum of African American Heritage and Culture. She brings up interesting issues both in the logistical creation of the museums as well as the exhibits featured therein.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Andrea Burns explores the phenomenon of growning African American neighbourhood museums. She says leaders of the Black museum movement were contesting and reinterpreting traditional depictions of African and African American history and culture before mainstream museums acknowledged African American history.

Starting in the 1960s and 1970s, Burns shows that the African American museums that emerged challenged and re-created new national memories and identities that incorporated the ideas, events, objects, and places tied to black history. The museums represented alternative or free spaces carved out of cultural landscapes that have consistently marginalised minorities.

All the museums in this study have the same thematic characteristics that impact the development of their institutions and work. They were all (1) all were based in major metropolises, and (2) the black populations in those cities were increasing.

At the conclusion, Burns argues the national African American museum ignited a competitive spark, and local African American museums that have become detached from their community might be invigorated.

I enjoyed the book, but I was not totally convinced with Burns argument.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a required book for my Public History class and probably one of my favorites. Dr. Burns discusses several African American museums and how those museums came to being. She also raises the question of why African American history isn't seen as American history. I believe this book is a wonderful introduction to one of the "other" sides of "American" history while also explaining the struggles of telling the story and preserving the history of the disenfranchised.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but I should probably revisit it at some point.