How We Know What We Know
How We Know What We Know
African American history is studied using traditional methodologies, research, and sources. It has also pioneered new ways to consider the past, including oral history, conservation, family history, and more.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) uses these research methods to study history, curate exhibits, and authenticate collections.
Oral History
The Civil Rights History Project (CRHP) the personal histories and testimonials of unsung activists of the 1950s and 1960s provides faces and voices to many of the previously unknown individuals who made valuable contributions to the Civil Rights Movement.
Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people and communities. This methodology provides personal perspectives and reflections on key moments in history.
The African American practice of passing on knowledge through oral history can be traced back to the centuries-old griot traditions in West African cultures. While early African societies did keep written records, oral history was also considered an essential resource for preserving history. Oral histories capture the memories, knowledge, skills, cultural traditions, faith, and other information that have been passed down through the generations.
This methodology also provides personal perspectives and reflections on key moments in history. Today, NMAAHC and other institutions conduct and collect oral histories of those who were involved in critical moments throughout American history.
Archives
Archives are materials created or collected by a person, family, or organization. They are maintained because of their enduring, or ongoing significance. Archives contain a variety of materials, including receipts, wills, letters, photographs, maps, manuscripts, and more.
African Americans are documented in archival records in a variety of ways – as authors and as subjects. Archival materials created by Black people—including slave narratives, abolitionist pamphlets, newspapers, and written speeches and sermons – provide Black perspectives from slavery through the present day. Documents written about Black people by non-Black people, like the financial records kept by enslavers, provide another perspective.
Historians and museums use archival material to study the past and to curate exhibitions. Archives reveal the values, motivations, aspirations, and daily lives of their creators and the societies they emerge from.
Alvin Ailey Company group photo
Jack Mitchell Photography of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection
The Jack Mitchell Photography of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater Collection is comprised of approximately 10,000 black and white prints of solo and ensemble acts, portraits of principle dancers and various associates of the company, color slides and transparencies for private photo sessions and performances, black and white film strips and their corresponding contact sheets, and reference materials.
Letter from Charlene Hodges Byrd to Charles R. Bird
The Charlene Hodges Byrd Collection
The Charlene Hodges Byrd collection documents the personal life and professional career of Charlene Hodges Byrd, an African American teacher from Washington, D.C., along with material for several related families from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The collection dates from circa 1750-2009, with the bulk of the material dating from 1880-1960. It is arranged in 10 series: Biographical Material, Correspondence, Writings, Subject Files, Financial and Legal Records, Printed Material, Volumes, Memorabilia, Textiles, and Photographs.
Material Culture and Conservation
Material culture refers to the objects people or communities use and create. Museums use material culture to understand more about the past and the people who created or used them. Museums also work with conservators to learn about the material composition of objects.
Conservators examine the materials that objects are made of; they also study how objects were made and used in the past. Conservators can show us how people used and repaired objects over time, like identifying patches on clothing or new pegs on a violin. Their work is also important for ensuring that objects are authentic. Objects are pieces of people’s lives, and historical and conservation research can help uncover deeper, more interesting stories.
Archeology
Archaeology is the study of the human past through physical remains people, animals, and plants leave behind. Archaeologists excavate historic sites to analyze material culture and understand cultures or societies. Archaeology is conducted on land (terrestrial) and underwater (maritime).
Museum curators rely on the scholarship of archaeologists, whose work provides insight into the lived experiences of people and communities.
Genealogy and Family History
Using genealogy research, Museum staff identified Tempy Ruby Bryant as the owner of this dress from the 1860s.
Genealogy is the study of family history through the generations. Genealogy keeps personal narratives at the center of histories being explored and told. The NMAAHC uses genealogy to learn more about our collections, investigate historical events, and examine community and cultural practices. Researching people and their families can illuminate details about the lives of individuals and communities and paint fuller pictures of the past.
Statistical Data
Curators used statistics from the SlaveVoyages database to communicate the enormity of the trade—both its economic impact and the human cost.
Historians and other scholars create statistical data after collecting, organizing, and interpreting information they have researched. Their analysis can provide insights into specific communities, historic events, and changes over time. NMAAHC uses statistical data to curate rich stories and exhibits and better understand the past. Statistical data can tell us the number of slave ship voyages during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, or quality of life changes after labor unionization.