National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center - Wilberforce, OH
Posted by: 
silverquill
N 39° 42.989 W 083° 52.863
17S E 253041 N 4400259
Quick Description: The National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio, aims to educate the public about African American history and culture from African origins to the present through a variety of programs, including museum exhibits and research.
Location: Ohio, United States
Date Posted: 9/8/2007 2:11:57 PM
Waymark Code: WM25FC
Views: 131
Long Description:
National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center - Wilberforce,
Ohio
The National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center on the old
campus of Wilberforce University, near Dayton, Ohio, aims to
educate the public about African American history and culture from
African origins to the present through a variety of programs,
including museum exhibits, research and publications, visiting
scholars, oral and visual history and adult and children's
educational activities.
The museum's permanent exhibition, From Victory To Freedom:
Afro-American Life in the Fifties, explores African American
experiences in America's history from 1945 with the ending of World
War II, to 1965 with passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964. This
exhibition chronicles the trends, struggles and social changes that
occurred within this crucial period in American history through a
variety of photographs and artifacts, but also through life-sized
scenes and settings depicting "typical" lifestyles and activities
in the fifties. Examples of this typical fifties lifestyle include
a barber shop, a beauty salon, and a church interior complete with
pews, pulpit and choir stand. These exhibits are made real to the
visitor through the accompaniment of recorded speaking voices and
gospel music.
Display at the NAAMCC entranceInterspersed between these settings
are display cases containing clothes, jewelry, consumer products,
sports equipment and other artifacts from the fifties. Located in
the center of the exhibition is a small theater, which shows the
award-winning Music As a Metaphor, a 27-minute video tracing the
origins of African American music from its roots in Africa to
period music of the fifties. Gospel, jazz, bebop, classical, and
protest music are all explored, as are artists such as Paul
Robeson, Fats Domino, Dizzy Gillespie and others.
NAMMCC Exhibits: The gallery housing the fifties exhibition is
surrounded by a 22-foot-high photomural depicting various aspects
of American life of the era. The compelling photomontage mural is
arranged in sections corresponding to the different settings in the
museum (i.e., family life, education, community and social
interactions, entertainment and sports), and provides an impressive
backdrop for the remainder of the exhibit. Outside the doors of the
museum's permanent collection, visitors will discover changing
exhibits, including dolls, books, clothing, musical instruments and
other artifacts which reveal the depth and influence of African
American history and culture.
On view at the National Afro-American Museum is Wilberforce: A
Community of Leadership and Learning. This popular and informative
exhibition documents the story of the small Southwest Ohio village
that’s been central to so much significant African American
history. Since well before statehood, Wilberforce provided a home
for Blacks seeking freedom.
Wilberforce details the stories of the historic village wherein
seven Underground Railroad stations assisted thousands of enslaved
individuals in their effort to escape the cruelty of Southern
slavery. Wilberforce: A Community of Leadership and Learning
includes an informative and entertaining video. The exhibition is
available for lease and is on display now.
The life and legacy of Dayton poet Paul Laurence Dunbar is explored
and celebrated in a powerful exhibition, Celebrating 100 Years: The
Life and Legacy of Paul Laurence Dunbar at the National
Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center (NAAMCC).