visitors will be taking away an understanding that this is not just one sliver of time , but part of a continuum of history .”
Union Army Brevet Brigadier General Samuel Chapman Armstrong established the first United States African American museum in 1868 as part of his new school for freed Black students , the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute . Armstrong , the son of missionaries and a former commander of the United States Colored Troops , opened the institute with two teachers , fifteen students and an idea to prepare his students through education and vocational training . The museum was meant to strengthen the connection to their own cultural history . Today , the Association of African American Museums counts among their members more than 350 physical and digital museums , cultural centers and historic homes , and their audience is much wider .
“ As a field , we ’ ve observed an increase in visitation to African American museums . I attribute this to greater access and a growing thirst for knowledge ,” says AAAM CEO Vedet Coleman-Robinson in a written statement . “ Our museums remain committed to their missions of presenting the full truth , ensuring that visitors have the opportunity to learn , reflect and grow . Where there is a thirst for knowledge or gaps in understanding , museums provide the remedy . They are not just places of preservation but antidotes to historical deficiencies , offering clarity and truth to all who seek it .”
But telling the stories of marginalized peoples , and persuading patrons that they should be told with unflinching honesty , is often a struggle . In 1929 , President Herbert Hoover appointed a committee to create a National Memorial Building celebrating the contributions of the Black community , touching off an eighty-seven-year battle over the funding , design , philosophy and location of the National Museum of African American History and Culture , which opened on the National Mall in 2016 . Recently , the National Archives Museum has been under fire for modifying or removing planned and existing exhibits showcasing dark chapters in American history , like the government ’ s treatment of Native Americans . Southern plantation historic home museums have long been criticized for romanticizing , min-
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