PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — There’s a brand-new space open for people to visit on Broad Street in Providence telling the untold stories of African American communities.
The African American Museum of Rhode Island opened on Easter weekend, the first in the area.
“There are different quilts and fabrics in the Ocean State, we know that” said Dr. Christopher West, the executive director. “But one of the quilts and fabrics that gets ignored and placed secondary is particularly the African experience, the African American experience.”
As soon as you step into the building, you’re greeted with a “welcome to the neighborhood” sign explaining some of the photos handpicked by the museum’s curator, Dr. Melaine Ferdinand-King. Then turning the corner, there is a map pin pointing all of the neighborhoods and streets people have gone to church, school, and worked.
Dr. Christopher West, the executive director, spoke about the museum. (WJAR)
The process for the museum started when one of the founders started to become inspired by going into the community.
“It began as a conversation of a memory then place making, then a story,” continued Dr. West, speaking of the museum’s beginning. “She goes up to these community members and asks, is this something we can do. So the founders created the 501c3, they named the institution, and at that point they found a museum professional in myself and a curator in Dr. King.”
The museum depicts the strength, love and the challenges that the African American community faced between the 1940’s to the 1970’s in Rhode Island. There’s one exhibit showing the hard times that many Black residents faced after being displaced.
“It was right after World War II and the city was struggling after the textile factory industry and they needed to redevelop,” explained Dr. West. “ So a federal highway had to be built, That meant displacement . New homes being moved in, that meant displacement.”
The museum depicts the strength, love and the challenges that the African American community faced between the 1940’s to the 1970’s in Rhode Island. (WJAR)
It’s stories like that showing pivotal moments in time that are being told through oral lessons, writings on the wall, and captured moments.
Dr. West said they knew they needed a place like this when elders who grew up never saw themselves in history.
“Elders who visited during the opening were staring at some of the photos and just struck in memory,” continued Dr. West. “There was never any place like this growing up for them where they could explore and learn more. “
Despite the hard work, they continued during uncertain times and opened the museum during Easter weekend to a packed ceremony showing the response was everything they imagined and more.
“This is something that people needed and we stayed in the flow of that,” Dr. West said.
As far as next steps, Dr. West said they would love to get inside the classrooms and have children become more engaged with the museum and come and visit as part of an education lesson.
More about the museum’s opening hours and upcoming events can be found on the Rhode Island African American Museum’s website.
