The African American Museum of Southern Arizona, located in Tucson, is the only Black history museum in the state.
The 1,100-square-foot exhibition hall is located on the University of Arizona’s campus. It houses an array of artifacts and photos depicting the history and contributions of Black Americans in the Tucson area. When it opened two years ago, the museum featured nine exhibits and has since expanded to 17.
Exhibitions include The Buffalo Soldiers, Black soldiers who served in the U.S. Army
after the Civil War; and the Dunbar community, a Black neighborhood in North Tucson that housed the city’s first segregated school.There are also presentations on cultural icons like Fred Snowden, who made history as the first Black person to serve as head coach at a major university when he coached the men’s basketball team at Arizona State University.
“Even our own people, African Americans, we aren’t sure how much is out there, but we are finding out there is more and more,” African American Museum of Southern Arizona Executive Director, Beverly Elliott, told KOLD 13 News
, Tuscon.Oral history has been a major component in preserving African American histories
. The museum features a series of audio and visual recordings of nearly 30 Black Arizonans sharing their stories.The African American Museum of Southern Arizona has hosted several Black historical figures, such as basketball star Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Carlotta Walls Lanier, the youngest of the nine Little Rock Nine, and Ruby Bridges, the first African American child to attend the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans.
Elliot told KOLD News that the museum aims to emulate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s work by raising awareness of social injustices.
“His whole platform was about equality, whether it was education, whether it was healthcare, whether it was employment,” Elliott said. “All of those things are still around for African Americans, which is why we say we are not just a museum; we are a movement.”
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