Northwest African American Museum

Northwest African American Museum, photographed on its second day of operation, 2008.

The Northwest African American Museum (NAAM) in Seattle, Washington, USA opened March 8, 2008.^[1] Intended to "document and exhibit the unique historical and cultural experiences of African Americans in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest", the museum is part of the new Urban League Village at the former Colman School (built 1909,^[2] and with official status as a City of Seattle landmark^[3]). The building will also contain 36 units of mixed income housing for "artists, historians, teachers, and others who would be attracted by the activities of the museum.^[4] The museum is located in Seattle's Central District.

Background

Opening of exhibit "Tacoma's Civil Rights Struggle: African Americans Leading the Way (February 4, 2009).

The first efforts at creating the museum began in 1981,^[4] by a group called Community Exchange. In 1984 a formal task force was established. The following year community activists Earl Debnam, Michael Greenwood, Charlie James and Omari Tahir-Garrett occupied the disused Colman School to claim the building as the museum location.^[2] Tahir-Garrett's son Wyking Kwame Garrett later also participated in occupation, which continued for eight years.^[1]

In 1993, a not-for-profit organization, the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center, formed; Bob Flowers was appointed chairman of the museum board in 1995.^[2] The Urban League became involved in the project in 2001^[4] and purchased the Colman School from Seattle Public Schools in 2003.^[2] Unlike Flowers' group, the Urban League group had no continuity from the group that had originally occupied the building, leading to "a bitter split among African-American activists".^[1]

Carver Gayton was named director of the museum and Urban League Village project in 2004,^[2] and ground was broken in spring 2006.^[4] During the March 2008 opening ceremonies, Wyking Kwame Garrett seized the microphone and described the Urban-League-led museum as a "disgrace", a "scam", and "not what we sacrificed our lives for." Booed by the assembled crowd, he refused to leave or to be quiet, and was arrested. Nonetheless, Carver Gayton acknowledged the occupiers' role in bringing the museum into being: "They had a role in improving visibility of the African American Museum. They were part of that. We can't discount it." Similarly, Rev. Sam McKinney, former pastor of Seattle's Mount Zion Baptist Church, thanked the occupiers: "For eight years, they fought the wrecking ball."^[1]

Facility

Museum entrance, photographed on NAAM's second day of operation, 2008.

The museum has 17,000 square feet (1,600 m²) of floor space, including a bookstore/gift shop and a café. It will have educational programs for children, including traveling exhibits.^[4]

The museum's initial temporary exhibit features the work of Jacob Lawrence and James W. Washington, Jr., two prominent African American artists who made their homes in Seattle. Among the works in the show are Lawrence's series of five panels on the life of George Washington Bush, Washington State's first African American settler.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Susan Gilmore, African American Museum opens to acclaim, Seattle Times, March 9, 2008. Accessed online 9 March 2008.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Kathy Mulady, African American Museum heading toward reality, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 2, 2006. Accessed online 17 October 2007.
3. ^ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for C, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed 28 December 2007.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Northwest African American Museum at Urban League Village", brochure
5. ^ Sheila Farr, Kindred spirits at Northwest African American Museum, Seattle Times, March 2, 2008. Accessed online 15 March 2008.

External links

• Northwest African American Museum, official site
• Susan Gilmore, African American Museum opens to acclaim, Seattle Times, March 9, 2008. Includes links to a gallery of photos of the museum on its opening day and to several Seattle Times articles from a special supplement about the museum.
• Mary T. Henry, Northwest African American Museum, HistoryLink, April 21, 2008.