The African American Museum was originally founded in 1974 on the Bishop College campus as an organization that sponsored African-American exhibitions and programs. It was originally called “The Southwest Research Center and Museum of African-American Life and Culture” before shortening its name to “the Museum of African-American Life and Culture.” It eventually became its own independent, nonprofit organization that was called “the Foundation of African-American Art.” After Bishop College went bankrupt in 1988, the Museum relocated to offices at Fair Park, where they stayed until their new stand-alone building opened in Fair Park in 1993 (Dulaney, n.d.).
With the new building came new opportunities and a new name: “the African American Museum.” After the Museum became its own building, they began specializing in African-American folk art, jazz, and now houses the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, the museum houses different art exhibits and has many different historical exhibits about being Black in Dallas (Dulaney, n.d).
More recently, it has been discovered that the African American Museum stands on the same site as the Hall of Negro Life from the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936, representing the refusal to forget Black history in Dallas. Despite the fact that the Hall of Negro Life was torn down after the Exposition, the African American Museum now stands in the same place to preserve the history and culture of African Americans across Dallas (Dulaney, n.d.).
Sources:
Adams-Wade, N. (2020, March 31). From the archives to the front office: Historian settles into leadership role at African American Museum. Dallas News. https://www.dallasnews.com/news/commentary/2020/03/31/from-the-archives-to-the-front-office-historian-settles-into-leadership-role-at-african-american-museum/
Dulaney, W. M. (n.d.). History of the AAM. African American Museum Of Dallas. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from https://aamdallas.org/history/