DuSable Museum of African American History

The DuSable Museum of African American History is a museum in Chicago which explores the history and culture of African Americans. Its exhibits include several murals, paintings and sculptures representing prominent African Americans and an exhibit looking at the history of African Americans in the armed forces. The DuSable Museum also offers an insight into the civil rights movement from 1848 to 1968.

History of DuSable Museum of African American History

The museum was founded in 1961 by artist/educator/writer/activist Dr. Margaret Burroughs with other leading Chicago citizens as the nation’s first independent museum celebrating Black culture. The Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art was inaugurated in the Burroughs’ home on Chicago’s iconic South Side. The museum was named the DuSable Museum of African American History to honour Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable in 1968.

The DuSable Museum quickly filled a void caused by limited cultural resources then available to African Americans in Chicago. It became an educational resource for African-American history and culture and a focal point in Chicago for Black social activism. The museum has hosted political fundraisers, community festivals, and various events serving the Black community.

The DuSable’s mission is to promote understanding and inspire appreciation of the achievements, contributions, and experiences of African Americans through exhibits, programmes, and activities that illustrate African and African American history, culture and art. The DuSable’s diverse collections include both fine art and historical materials, with substantial holdings in African art and artefacts, archival documents, and works created by some of the most influential African American artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Works from scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, sociologist St. Clair Drake, and poet Langston Hughes feature.

After its expansion in 1993, the DuSable Museum boasted fifty thousand square feet of exhibit space, a 466-seat auditorium, and a research library. Its most recent expansion, the Roundhouse Project in 2009, allowed the museum to display more of its library, include a special exhibit for children, and plan a technology and language lab.

DuSable Museum of African American History today

The Dusable Museum has over 15,000 pieces and welcomes over 100,000 visitors each year.Special exhibitions, workshops and lectures are featured to highlight works by particular artists, historical events or collections on loan from individuals or institutions. Permanent exhibitions include “Red, White, Blue, and Black: A History of Blacks in the Armed Services,” “Freedom, Resistance, and the Journey to Equality,” and “A Slow Walk to Greatness: The Harold Washington Story.”

Getting to DuSable Museum of African American History

There is limited parking availbale in the DuSale car park. To reach the site by bus, travel to the 55th & Cottage Grove stop which is one block away from the museum.