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nmaahc-building

Exhibitions

Exhibit Location IconAT MUSEUM
Sun Ra, a black alien , is dressed in a pharaoh looking headdress and colorful yellow costume.

Afrofuturism

Afrofuturism functions as an expressive outlet for exploring concepts of Black identity, agency, and freedom through creative, intellectual, and artistic work.

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Exhibit Location IconAT MUSEUM
An ambrotype of an African American woman with a flag pinned to her chest inside an ordinate gold frame.

Slavery & Freedom

Explore the history of slavery in the U.S. and the stories of African Americans whose struggles for freedom shaped the nation.

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4 Parts

Exhibit Location IconAT MUSEUM
A purple silk banner with gold fringe and the National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs' motto, "LIFTING / AS / WE CLIMB" painted in large gold letters.

MAKING A WAY OUT OF NO WAY

Through community institutions and activism, African Americans crafted possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities.

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6 Themes

Exhibit Location IconAT MUSEUM
Photograph of Marvin Gaye in a purple jacket on stage performing

SPIRIT in the DARK

Diverse aspects of the Black religious experience are revealed through photographs and stories of individuals featured in Ebony, Jet, and other Johnson Publishing Company publications.

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3 Themes

Exhibit Location IconONLINE ONLY
Images of a carte-de-visite photograph of conjoined twins Millie and Christine McCoy.

Millie Christine

Millie Christine McCoy were conjoined twins born into slavery in Whiteville, North Carolina. Known as “The Carolina Twins” and the “Two-Headed Nightingale,” the enslaved twins were exhibited before the Civil War as circus and sideshow attractions in parts of the United States and Europe.

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3 Themes