List of African American Museums

The National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. BrianPIrwin / Shutterstock.com.

The African American museums in the United States focus mainly on the history and culture of the African American people. The museums were created with a mission of collecting and preserving African-derived culture and history. The Collage Museum was the first African American museum in the US, established in 1868 in Hampton, Virginia. Today, there are 109 such museums across the country. Here are some of the notable museums within the US focused on African American history.

Notable African American Museums

Slave Mart Museum

The Old Slave Mart Museum has been operating since 1938, making it the oldest existing African America museum in the US. Located in Charleston, South Carolina, the Old Slave Mart was a slave auctioning gallery. The building was constructed in 1859 and is considered as the last slave auction facility in the state of South Carolina. Miriam B Wilson purchased the building in 1938 and established a museum which initially displayed African-American art. The Old Slave Mart was purchased and restored by the City of Charleston in the 1990s and now interprets the history of the slave trade in the city.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Smithsonian’s NMAAHC in Washington DC is the largest African American museum in the US. After years of efforts to have an African-American museum owned by the federal government, the museum was established in 2003 but was opened to the public in 2016. The building covers an area of approximately 350,000 square feet and has 10 floors (five below and five above the ground). It has a collection of about 40,000 objects but only 3,500 objects are on display.

African American Museum in Philadelphia

The African American Museum in Philadelphia was the first to be funded and built by a major city to preserve and display the heritage of the African American people. Apart from sharing stories on how the African Americans contributed to the founding of America, it also has exhibits for children to help them learn about the daily lives of the Philadelphian’s children during slavery. The AAMP is located a few meters away from the Liberty Bell and was opened in 1976. It has an auditorium and four galleries. The exhibitions in the museum are centered on three dominant themes; the Philadelphia Story, the African Diaspora, and the Contemporary Narrative.

National Voting Rights Museum

The National Voting Rights Museum is located in Selma, Alabama and was opened to the public in 1993. It is situated near the Edmund Pettus Bridge which was an important site for the Voting Rights Movement. The museum contains exhibits and testimonies of activists who took part in the events that led to the passage of the Voting Rights Acts of 1965.

National Civil Rights Museum

The National Civil Rights Museum is located around the site of the famous Lorraine Motel the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr took place. the Memphis-based museum was opened in 1991 and contains exhibits that showcase the history of civil rights movement in the US. The NCRM became a Smithsonian Affiliate Museum in October 2016.

States by Number of African American Museums

Only 33 states in the US have African American museums. With 10 museums, Florida has the highest number of African American museums, followed by Alabama and Louisiana with 8 such museums each. Maryland and New York have 7 African American museums. California (6), Georgia (6), Texas (5), and Virginia (5) also have a notable number of the museums.

List of African American Museums

Rank	Museum Name	City	State	Year
1	Slave Mart Museum	Charleston	South Carolina	1938
2	George Washington Carver Museum, The	Tuskegee	Alabama	1941
3	African American Museum in Cleveland, The	Cleveland	Ohio	1956
4	Mary McLeod Bethune Home	Daytona Beach	Florida	1956
5	DuSable Museum of African American History	Chicago	Illinois	1960
6	Frederick Douglass National Historic Site	Washington	D.C.	1962
7	Museum of African American History & Abiel Smith School	Boston	Massachusetts	1964
8	Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History	Detroit	Michigan	1965
9	Anacostia Museum	Washington	D.C.	1967
10	Studio Museum in Harlem	New York City (Manhattan)	New York	1968
11	National Center of Afro-American Artists	Roxbury	Massachusetts	1969
12	African American Museum of Nassau County	Hempstead	New York	1970
13	Black American West Museum & Heritage Center	Denver	Colorado	1971
14	African American Museum	Dallas	Texas	1974
15	Harvey B. Gantt Center	Charlotte	North Carolina	1974
16	Great Plains Black History Museum	Omaha	Nebraska	1975
17	African American Museum in Philadelphia	Philadelphia	Pennsylvania	1976
18	Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum	Tallahassee	Florida	1976
19	Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum	Lynchburg	Virginia	1977
20	APEX (African American Panoramic Experience) Museum	Atlanta	Georgia	1978
21	Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site	Washington	D.C.	1979
22	George Washington Carver Museum	Phoenix	Arizona	1980
23	George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center	Austin	Texas	1980
24	California African American Museum	Los Angeles	California	1981
25	Tubman African American Museum	Macon	Georgia	1981
26	Great Blacks in Wax Museum	Baltimore	Maryland	1983
27	Afro-American Historical and Cultural Society Museum	Jersey City	New Jersey	1984
28	Banneker-Douglass Museum	Annapolis	Maryland	1984
29	Smith-Robertson Museum and Cultural Center	Jackson	Mississippi	1984
30	Alexandria Black History Museum	Alexandria	Virginia	1987
31	National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center	Wilberforce	Ohio	1987
32	Tuskegee Airmen National Museum	Detroit	Michigan	1987
33	America's Black Holocaust Museum	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	1988
34	Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia	Richmond	Virginia	1988
35	Bontemps African American Museum	Alexandria	Louisiana	1988
36	Hammonds House Museum	Atlanta	Georgia	1988
37	New Orleans African American Museum	New Orleans	Louisiana	1988
38	Alabama State Black Archives Research Center and Museum	Huntsville	Alabama	1990
39	Negro Leagues Baseball Museum	Kansas City	Missouri	1990
40	Delta Cultural Center	Helena	Arkansas	1991
41	John E. Rogers African American Cultural Center	Hartford	Connecticut	1991
42	Natchez Museum of African American History and Culture	Natchez	Mississippi	1991
43	National Civil Rights Museum	Memphis	Tennessee	1991
44	National Voting Rights Museum	Selma	Alabama	1991
45	Birmingham Civil Rights Institute	Birmingham	Alabama	1992
46	National African American Archives and Museum	Mobile	Alabama	1992
47	African American Museum and Library at Oakland	Oakland	California	1994
48	African American Museum of the Arts	DeLand	Florida	1994
49	Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum	Monroe	Louisiana	1994
50	River Road African American Museum	Donaldsonville	Louisiana	1994
51	Sandy Ground Historical Museum	New York City (Staten Island)	New York	1994
52	A. Philip Randolph Pullman Porter Museum	Chicago	Illinois	1995
53	Arthur "Smokestack" Hardy Fire Museum	Baltimore	Maryland	1995
54	Black History 101 Mobile Museum	Detroit	Michigan	1995
55	Idaho Black History Museum	Boise	Idaho	1995
56	Old Dillard Museum	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	1995
57	John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture	Tallahassee	Florida	1996
58	Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site Visitors Center	Atlanta	Georgia	1996
59	African American Firefighter Museum	Los Angeles	California	1997
60	African American Museum of Southern Illinois	Carbondale	Illinois	1997
61	Griot Museum of Black History, The	St. Louis	Missouri	1997
62	Kansas African-American Museum	Wichita	Kansas	1997
63	Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum	Oella	Maryland	1998
64	African American Civil War Memorial Museum	Washington	D.C.	1999
65	LaVilla Museum	Jacksonville	Florida	1999
66	Mary S. Harrell Black Heritage Museum	New Smyrna Beach	Florida	1999
67	MoCADA	New York City (Brooklyn)	New York	1999
68	Buffalo Soldiers National Museum	Houston	Texas	2000
69	Legacy Museum of African American History	Lynchburg	Virginia	2000
70	Oran Z's Black Facts and Wax Museum	Los Angeles	California	2000
71	Rosa Parks Museum	Montgomery	Alabama	2000
72	Odell S. Williams Now And Then African-American Museum	Baton Rouge	Louisiana	2001
73	Wells' Built Museum	Orlando	Florida	2001
74	African-American Research Library and Cultural Center	Fort Lauderdale	Florida	2002
75	African American Museum of Iowa	Cedar Rapids	Iowa	2003
76	Louis Armstrong House	New York City (Queens)	New York	2003
77	Dorchester Academy and Museum	Midway	Georgia	2004
78	Lewis H. Latimer House	New York City (Queens)	New York	2004
79	National Underground Railroad Freedom Center	Cincinnati	Ohio	2004
80	Paul R. Jones Collection of African American Art	Newark	Delaware	2004
81	African American Multicultural Museum	Scottsdale	Arizona	2005
82	L.E. Coleman African-American Museum	Halifax County, Virginia	Virginia	2005
83	Muhammad Ali Center	Louisville	Kentucky	2005
84	Museum of the African Diaspora	San Francisco	California	2005
85	Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture	Baltimore	Maryland	2005
86	Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum	Hammond	Louisiana	2005
87	Weeksville Heritage Center	New York City (Brooklyn)	New York	2005
88	Brazos Valley African American Museum	Bryan	Texas	2006
89	Dr. Carter G. Woodson African American History Museum	St. Petersburg	Florida	2006
90	Mosaic Templars Cultural Center	Little Rock	Arkansas	2008
91	Northwest African American Museum	Seattle	Washington	2008
92	Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site	Tuskegee	Alabama	2008
93	Clemson Area African American Museum	Clemson	South Carolina	2010
94	International Civil Rights Center and Museum	Greensboro	North Carolina	2010
95	Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum	Culver City	California	2010
96	Prince George's African American Museum and Cultural Center	North Brentwood	Maryland	2010
97	Springfield and Central Illinois African-American History Museum	Springfield	Illinois	2012
98	National Museum of African American Music	Nashville	Tennessee	2013
99	National Center for Civil and Human Rights	Atlanta	Georgia	2014
100	Whitney Plantation	St. John the Baptist Parish	Louisiana	2014
101	Bertha Lee Strickland Cultural Museum	Seneca	South Carolina	2015
102	National Museum of African American History and Culture	Washington	D.C.	2016
103	Black Cowboy Museum	Rosenberg	Texas	2017
104	Finding Our Roots African American Museum	Houma	Louisiana	2017
105	Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center	Church Creek	Maryland	2017
106	Mississippi Civil Rights Museum	Jackson	Mississippi	2017
107	Willam V. Banks Broadcast Museum	Detroit	Michigan	2017
108	The Legacy Museum	Montgomery	Alabama	2018
109	Rural African American Museum	Opelousas	Louisiana	2018
110	International African American Museum	Charleston	South Carolina	2019 (anticipated)