Saturday, July 5, 2008

Museum Collections

The Alexandria Black History Museum presents lectures, tours of the Museum and other activities relating the history and accomplishments of African Americans in Alexandria. Paintings, photographs, books and other memorabilia document the African American experience in Alexandria and Virginia from 1749 to the present. The Museum also has a special collection on the history and graduates of the Parker-Gray School.

The Alexandria Black History Museum's building, itself, is one of the key artifacts in the collection. This includes the former Robert Robinson Library which was the segregated Black public library in Alexandria. The Robinson Library is 700 square feet and contains the museum's permanent collection.

In 1995, the Museum opened the Watson Reading Room next to the museum. The Watson Reading Room site is also historically significant to the collection as the original building was an early school and church for the African American community.

A series of sculptures, by well-known artist and sculptor Jerome Meadows for the Alexandria African American Heritage Park, is also part of the museum's collection and are maintained by the staff.

The entire stored collection includes over 3000 items.

Original Documents
Documents that relate to the establishment of the first public schools for African American students in 1867, Civil War documents relating to the "Colored Soldiers" and original documents that detail the history of most of the local organizations in Alexandria.

African objects
Wood carvings from the west coast of Africa.

Religious objects
A one-hundred year old pump organ used at a local Baptist Church and a one-hundred year-old church bible, support the interpretation of African American churches in the 19th century.

The Moss Kendrix Collection
A collection of over 900 photographs and 30 cubic feet of documents which examine the minority advertising market of 1950s and 1960s. The Moss Kendrix Organization, based in Washington, D.C., was one of the major black public relations firms in the nation.

Newspapers and magazines that are no longer in print are a part of the collection. Among the photographs in the collection are unpublished celebrity commercial stills. For more information on Moss Kendrix and the African American image in advertising, click here.

Recent Acquisitions
Recent acquisitions include a circa 1860 bronze fan shaped mirror and 19th-century purses which belonged to one of the oldest African American families in the City. The U.S. Postal Service also donated a collection of stamps from its African American stamp series.

Also new to the collection are photographs from a year-long exploration of worship in Alexandria African American churches by local photographer Nina Tisara. Photographs by Eldrich Murphy, an African-American photographer who worked in Alexandria during the 1940s and 50s, are another new addition.

Photographs
The museums photograph collection has been growing rapidly. These photographs are being used to create slide presentations and temporary exhibits to showcase different aspects of African American history. These photographs supplement the Watson Reading Room collection which has more than 2000 holdings on African American History and culture

Alexandria Black History Museum    |   Watson Reading Room    |    Robert H. Robinson Library
African American Heritage Park    |   Museum Exhibits    |    Education Programs    |    Self-Guided Walking Tour
History of Museum & Related Sites    |    African American History Guide    |    Freedmen's Cemetery
Alexandria's Black Public Education 1800-1965    |    Alexandria's Early Free Black Neighborhoods
Slave Market and Slave Jail    |    Oral History    |    Alexandria's Black Churches    |    To Witness the Past
Civil War: Fighting for Freedom    |    Civil War: Black Soldiers of the Civil War    |    Volunteers for Freedom, Part 1
Volunteers for Freedom, Part 2    |    Directions and Fees    |    Participate and/or Volunteer
Alexandria Black History main page