From Storefront to Monument: Tracing the Public History of the Black Museum Movement

5. Rocky Transitions: Black Museums Approach a New Era

129  chaPTeR 5 Rocky Transitions Black Museums Approach a New Era B y the mid-1980s, the small vanguard of african american museums that took root during the 1960s had grown into a network of more than one hundred african american museums across the country in locations as varied as the african american Museum in Dallas (founded in 1974) and the black holocaust Museum in Milwaukee (1988).1 During the early 2000s, the number of african american museums surpassed two hundred . like the pioneering black neighborhood museums based in metropolises like chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia, many of these institutions emerged in cities where african americans wielded an increasing amount of political power; this power often enabled the allocation of funds to expand existing museums or build new ones. yet whether the black museum movement could support the proliferation of new and expanding museums became increasingly questionable. in an interview conducted in 2000, Rita organ, president of the association of african american Museums, revealed some of the problems faced by african american museums to St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter lorraine kee. at last count, the association had “documented 211 african american museums nationally, from storefronts to stand-alones.” Many of these museums, however, were in difficult economic straits: “for every three that open up, at least one closes.”2 in 2005, earl Moore, a trustee of the Dusable Museum of african american history in chicago, reaffirmed organ’s observation: “Philly CHAPTER 5 130  is in serious trouble. atlanta [The african american Panoramic experience Museum] had serious trouble. . . . at the annual association of african american Museums meeting, [fundraising is] always one of the topics.”3 Moore’s reference to the african american Museum of Philadelphia is telling: the museum saw its attendance fall by 15 percent from 2002 to 2003. in 2002, its deficit stood at more than $150,000. in 2006, the aaMP received $454,000 in funding from Pennsylvania governor ed Rendell in an attempt to help the financially burdened museum develop its programs.4 concern over financial disorder, dwindling attendance, and unstable leadership threatened to undermine african american museums from within and even render their initial successes invisible. of course, african american museums were not the only cultural institutions to suffer during this period. The drastic reduction in federal funding to the nea and the neh during the late 1980s and early 1990s added to the decline in local and state support for many cultural institutions.5 The financial inability to maintain new exhibits and increase collections contributed to a drop in attendance levels, even at popular cultural attractions in major cities. between 1992 and 1993, for example, attendance at chicago’s adler Planetarium, the shedd aquarium, and the Museum of science and industry dropped between 17 and 25 percent.6 yet african american museums bore a double burden, for they had to compete with mainstream institutions for the same funding sources—in a race that they often lost. in 1999, Dusable Museum president antoinetteWright speculated that african american museums faced an inherent disadvantage in vying with established “mainstream”museums: “we’re competing for the same dollars . . . as well as other social agencies that do minority outreach work . . . our base of support is smaller and not as rich as the white community.”7 in 2005,Wright also contended that donors often hesitated to support african american museums for reasons beyond the purely financial. “any time you tell the truth you have some people who appreciate the truth and some people who don’t,” reasoned Wright. “some people don’t want to know the ills of slavery or the hardships [faced by] our community.”8 in an effort to reach broader audiences and improve their finances, some african american museums altered their mission statements, expanded, relocated , or changed their names. occasionally, they engaged in a combination of all four techniques.The expansion and physical relocation of african american museums from their original sites was, on the one hand, a sign of progress for the black museum movement—an indicator of the success that many museum Rocky Transitions  131 advocates had in negotiating the politics of their cities and attracting the financial support of museum members. however, some museum advocates found that defining their mission in relation to the local african american community became more difficult once the institutions had expanded or moved. critics also questioned whether these formerly grassroots organizations had moved too far from the civil rights...