After years of delays and political battles, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi, opened in 2017. For hundreds of thousands of visitors, the long delays were worth the wait. Located less than two hours from where Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi, the museum was an instant hit when it opened with much fanfare eight years ago.
But in June of this year, the museum achieved a remarkable feat. It became the fourth Black museum in the country to earn a coveted accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). Founded in 1906 and based in Alexandria, VA, AAM’s coveted accreditation is widely known as the gold standard in museum excellence.
Since 1971, AAM has been accrediting cultural institutions with its high professional standards. But over the years, an increasing number of museums, arts and cultural organizations have endured months and even years of AAM’s rigorous accreditation process to earn the institution’s stamp of approval.
With competition for grants and philanthropic donations high, more cultural institutions are seeking AAM accreditation than ever before, but few are achieving it. Successful museums that earn AAM accreditation tout their achievement for prestige, public reputation, attendance and credibility to foundations and wealthy philanthropists.
Some of these cultural institutions are Black museums that in the last decade have earned AAM accreditation after years of lagging behind other museums. Now, with interest in Black history soaring, Black museums are popping up across the country as they seek donors and visitors to succeed.
For the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the accreditation portends a bright future after just eight years in operation. In Chicago, the story is not as bright at the DuSable Museum and Education Center. What the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum achieved in just eight years, the DuSable Museum has yet to accomplish.
Sixty-four years after it was founded as the nation’s oldest independent Black museum, the DuSable Museum, despite its name and national profile, is not an accredited institution, according to the AAM. It never was, officials say. Sources report that concerns about the museum not being accredited have been raised to museum leadership in recent years. Today, as chaos engulfs the museum with lawsuits, deficits and high turnover, questions remain whether the DuSable Museum fumbled opportunities to obtain accreditation at a time when their reputation and credibility to donors, visitors and Chicago’s Black community are on the line.
Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times erroneously reported that the DuSable was accredited. The Crusader fact checked the report with Natanya Khashan, AAM’s associate vice president, marketing and digital experience, who said in an email, “I’m afraid the story was incorrect. The DuSable is not accredited. They completed the Museum Assessment Program in 2010 and 2011, but this is a separate program from accreditation.”
(At the end of the story, the Sun-Times added a correction note informing the DuSable is not accredited as originally reported. However, as of December 9, the story itself still contained the false statement, which was given by a museum staff member, according to a source.)
When asked if the DuSable was ever accredited, Khashan said, “No, they have never applied for accreditation.”
Twenty-eight years ago, the National Mexican Museum of Art in Pilsen applied for AAM’s accreditation and got it in 1997. Since then, it has received millions in philanthropic donations, including a record $8 million grant. In Humboldt Park, the National Puerto Rican Museum of Art and Culture has pursued AAM’s accreditation for years and is now one step away from achieving it.
Those museums are among 12 accredited, thriving Chicago museums whose reputations and quality standards continue to reap the benefits from AAM accreditation through major donations and high attendance.
At the core of AAM’s accreditation process are high standards of excellence that help museums shine and thrive. These standards include accountability, transparency, public trust and financial stability.
Supporters of AAM accreditation say the process of obtaining accreditation helps raise a museum’s professional standards and makes it more successful and stable. At the DuSable, supporters say AAM’s standards could be of benefit to the museum in addressing issues of declining attendance and high turnover, as well as claims lodged in lawsuits in recent years about alleged financial mismanagement.
But according to a document obtained by the Crusader, in 2024, Kim Dulaney, vice president of education and programs at DuSable, who was terminated in October, urged DuSable to seek accreditation and keep “The Many Colors of Us” children’s exhibit, the first of its kind in the museum’s history. But today, there are plans to close the exhibit as hopes fade for DuSable’s chances to earn accreditation.
Dulaney’s concern was documented in an 11-page performance management report to DuSable’s executives, including Perri Irmer, the museum’s president and CEO.
On page 10 of that report, Dulaney expressed the needs and concerns of her education department.
“I have been researching museums of all sizes and several of similar focus,” Dulaney said. “My concern is that in the growing field of museum work, we need to seek accreditation to really secure and hold our historic position. The Ed. Dept. is taking care to make sure we are aligned with published industry standards.
“When we lose The Many Colors of Us, we will have several deficits, according to current museum norms.”
The DuSable’s problems can end with AAM, which provides museums with resources and information that help them raise professional standards, boost attendance and public trust, and achieve accreditation.
The DuSable has not responded to email accreditation questions from the Crusader.
An AAM’s accreditation puts an institution among an elite group. Of the nation’s estimated 33,000 museums, less than 10 percent, or 1,125, are currently accredited. In Illinois, there are 227 museums, but only 32 are accredited by the AAM. In Chicago, 12 museums are accredited. They include the Adler Planetarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum, the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the Chicago History Museum, and the National Museum of Mexican Art.
In 2011, the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, became the first Black museum to be accredited by AAM. A year later, in 2012, the Alexandria Black History Museum in Alexandria, Virginia, was accredited. In 2014, AAM granted accreditation to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. In June this year, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum earned accreditation.
In 2022, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center became the first Black museum to earn reaccreditation from AAM. According to a press release, during the reaccreditation, AAM’s reviewers praised the significant addition of an experienced curator to the Freedom Center’s team, which has strengthened the organization’s collections care and research capacities. The Freedom Center Teen Docent program helps Greater Cincinnati high school students improve their historical knowledge and professional leadership skills.
But a Crusader analysis of 18 Black museums, including the prestigious Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, reveals that none of them are accredited by AAM. However, many are thriving and attracting donors from foundations and philanthropists based on their clean reputations as financially stable museums. It’s unclear whether these institutions have additional time and staff to gain accreditation through AAM.
According to AAM, accreditation increases a museum’s “credibility, value to funders, policy makers, insurers, community and peers.” AAM said an accreditation can provide leverage when a museum seeks to obtain a loan from lenders.
“While most all accredited museums highlight their status in all their fundraising and grant applications, grants are not the only metric of financial benefits,” Khashan said. “Some accredited museums report that their status leads to increased visitation, which drives traffic and revenue; and increased funding from a parent organization like a city or university, particularly for capital improvements.”
The four Black accredited museums continue to flourish.
In 2014, three years after it received a special 15-year accreditation from AAM, the National Civil Rights Museum Lorraine Motel reopened after a $28 million renovation. Attendance at the museum doubles that of the DuSable. In 2024, the museum saw 300,000 visitors. That year, attendance at the DuSable was 100,395, down from the previous year. In 2018, about 350,000 people visited the museum. At the DuSable that same year, 122,325 people attended. The National Civil Rights Museum, Lorraine Hotel, opened in 1991, about 30 years after the DuSable was founded.
In 2023, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, received numerous donations, including $7 million from top donors. That same year, voters in USA Today named The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center the best history museum in America. In 2024, the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum was ranked fourth-best in the country by USA Today in its.
This week, billionaire McKenzie Scott announced her charitable giving this year topped a whopping $7 billion. That includes over $700 million in accredited HBCU institutions. Last year, Bloomberg Philanthropies gave $175 million each to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine
Most of the accredited museums in Chicago continue to reap big donations from local and national foundations, long after AAM blessed them. In 2021, the National Mexican Museum of Art received a record $8 million donation from McKenzie Scott. Last year, the Art Institute of Chicago received a $75 million grant from philanthropist Aaron I. Fleischman. That same year, Adler Planetarium received a $20 million donation from the National Science Foundation and the Simons Foundation. In 2023, the Field Museum of Natural History received a $20 million grant from the Su Ling Gin Foundation Trust and another $20 million from the Grainger Foundation.
Though it is not accredited, the South Side Community Art Center in Bronzeville last month was given a $2 million donation by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation because of the standards that President Monique Brinkman-Hill and the center’s $15 million capital campaign have set.
Earning an AAM’s accreditation can be a long and difficult process for a first-time museum.
To start the accreditation process, AAM requires museums to take its Pledge of Excellence, where candidates promise to fulfill their educational mission, operate according to AAM’s Core Standards to the best of their abilities, and in accordance with their resources.
Those seven Core Standards are public trust and accountability, mission and planning, leadership and organizational structure, collections stewardship, education and interpretation, financial stability, and facilities and risk management.
To meet the public trust and accountability core standard, a museum must be “a good steward of its resources held in the public trust.” Museums must demonstrate their commitment to public accountability and must be transparent in their mission and their operations. The museum must also comply with local, state, and federal laws.
In accordance with AAM’s financial stability core standard, museums must operate in a “fiscally responsible manner” that promotes its long-term sustainability. Museums must also “legally, ethically, and responsibly acquire, manage, and allocate its financial resources in a way that advances its mission.”
Under the leadership and organization core standard, the museum’s governing authority or Board of Trustees, along with staff, and volunteers must “legally, ethically, and effectively carry out their responsibilities.”
In accordance with the collections and stewardship core standard, AAM requires a museum to “legally, ethically, and effectively manage documents and cares for proper usage of the museum’s collections. Another requirement is that “the museum’s collections-related research is conducted according to appropriate scholarly standards,” and “The museum strategically plans for the use and development of its collections.”
Under the education and interpretation core standard, AAM requires museums to conduct research per “scholarly standards.” The museum also must “present accurate and appropriate content for each of its audiences” and use “techniques, technologies, and methods appropriate to its educational goals, content, audiences, and resources.”
Under the facilities and risk management core standard, a museum must show that it uses its space to meet the needs of the collections, audience, and staff. The museum must also show it has an effective program for the care and long-term maintenance of its facilities. The building must be well-maintained and provide for the visitors’ needs. And the museum must take “appropriate measures to protect itself against potential risk and loss.”
The second step in the accreditation process is a self-study questionnaire. Museums must submit to AAM five Core Documents that are based on the organization’s seven Core Standards. These documents are the museum’s Mission Statement, Institutional Code of Ethics, Strategic Institutional Plan, Disaster Preparedness/Emergency Response Plan and its Collections Management Policy.
During the third step in the accreditation process, AAM staff takes 4 to 6 weeks to review during the Core Documents Verification process. If the documents meet AAM’s requirements, the museum will receive a certificate and be included on AAM’s list of Core Documents Verified museums.
During the fourth and final step in the accreditation process, AAM sends two peer reviewers to the museum site for further evaluation. The reviewers then produce a report for AAM’s Accreditation Commission. The Commission then examines materials to decide whether to grant a museum accreditation. Accreditation lasts for 10 years and can be renewed.
The Accreditation Commission meets 3 times a year (February, June, and October).
AAM said the entire accreditation process takes up to 16 months to complete.
According to an accreditation search, the AAM has verified and issued a Core Document certificate to The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture in Humboldt Park as the museum inches closer to accreditation.
To help museums pass the accreditation process, AAM provides museums a toolkit and a Museum Assessment Program (MAP) to familiarize them with the accreditation requirements, including the Core Standards. Museums can also participate in accreditation webinars and one-on-one consultations.
Kashan said these steps are part of the accreditation readiness process. She said museums that struggle with accreditation are those that don’t invest the time and resources to meet the Core Standards and make accreditation a long-term institutional goal. She also cited as a reason [museum leaders] “Not being willing to listen and be open to feedback, or a weak commitment to institutional improvement.
“[Accreditation] readiness and success is rarely determined by the type of museum but rather by its internal organizational culture, mindset, and structure, as well as where it is in its organizational lifecycle,” Kashan said.
According to Kashan, the DuSable completed the MAP program in 2010 and 2011. However, Kashan said the MAP is a separate program from AAM’s accreditation process.
As part of the accreditation process, museums must pay thousands of dollars in fees. Before they receive an AAM Core Documents certificate, museums must pay a fee of $895. For museums seeking accreditation for the first time, the fee is $6,900, which can be paid in monthly installments. There is also a fee for the site visit portion of the accreditation process.
But DuSable’s chances of earning AAM’s accreditation and meeting its Core Standards of public trust, financial stability, collections and stewardship, risk management and facilities may be affected by recent legal claims.
In separate lawsuits, the museum has been accused of misusing grant funds for other purposes. In one lawsuit that has since been settled, two former employees alleged the museum deducted funds from their pay but never forwarded them to medical and dental clinics. There were also allegations that various vendors were not being paid.
Despite questions about its financial stability, the DuSable has refused requests to release its internal audits, financial reports and employment contracts.
In June, Atlas Business and Property Services and Amenities, Inc. filed a lawsuit alleging that DuSable owes nearly $53,000 for unpaid work. The lawsuit also alleges DuSable violated the contract by hiring its employees without the firm’s knowledge or consent.
In her 2018 lawsuit, former DuSable Chief Curator Leslie Guy alleged that staff members were denied access to storage facilities that housed the museum’s collections for over four months because the storage fees were not paid. Guy also alleged that Corporate Art Source, whose owner Kathleen Bernhard is Irmer’s friend, was granted “unlimited” and “unmonitored” access to the museum’s collection despite having no “curatorial experience, museum experience or experience as a museum appraiser.”
One former volunteer said the museum lacks “experienced and competent professionals” in the facility’s collections department. That same individual reported that the Roundhouse oftentimes had several maintenance issues that include a roof that leaked when it rains. And sources told the Crusader that representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation once visited the Roundhouse, where they encountered a large puddle of water on the floor. The foundation ended up leaving without making any financial commitment to the museum.
Sources told the Crusader that Judith Kamien, had helped the DuSable get its emergency evacuation order in place (an AAM Core Standard). However, the museum terminated Kamien as a consultant in 2021.
Supporters of AAM’s accreditation would help the DuSable take steps to change the culture of the museum.
Kashan said AAM has also worked with the Association of African American Museums (AAAM) on their recent initiative to better understand the needs and challenges of accreditation for Black museums, and is supportive of their efforts to create a support system and resources for their members to enhance readiness for accreditation.
“Accredited museums are a community of institutions that have chosen to hold themselves publicly accountable to excellence,” said Laura L. Lott, former president and CEO of the AAM. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement, of which both the institutions and the communities they serve can be extremely proud.”
