DuSable Museum
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| Established | 1961 (current location since 1971) |
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| Location | 740 East 56th Place Chicago, Illinois 60637 United States  |
| Director | Antoinette Wright |
| Website | www.dusablemuseum.org |
The DuSable Museum of African American History is the first and oldest museum dedicated to the study and conservation of African American history, culture, and art. It was founded 1961 by Dr. Margaret Taylor-Burroughs and her husband Charles Burroughs. It is currently located at 740 E. 56th Place at the corner of Cottage Grove Avenue in Washington Park.
Dr. Burroughs and many others were correcting the perceived omission of black history, contribution, and culture in most museums and academic establishments. They originally founded the museum as the Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art. In 1968, the museum was renamed for Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, a Haitian fur trader and the first non-Native-American permanent settler in Chicago. In 1971, the Chicago Park District gave the use of an old park administration building in Washington Park as the site for the museum. In 1993, the museum expanded with a new wing bearing the name of the late Mayor Harold Washington, the first African American mayor of Chicago.
An expansion is planned for 2007, in which the museum will take over a building across 56th Place and connect the two buildings with a covered walkway. The expansion will double the size of the current museum.
[edit] Galleries
The museum is laid out on three levels. The entry level contains an exhibition on the different regions of Africa and displays African artwork and clothing. Also on this level is a gift shop, a small auditorium, mosaics of Chicago African-American history, a bust of du Sable and a model of his trading post.
The upper level is focused on the Civil Rights Movement beginning with Plessy v. Ferguson and focusing on the movement in Chicago. This level also contains a replica of Harold Washington's office on the fifth floor of City Hall with artifacts of his tenure as mayor.
The lower level hosts a permanent exhibit of art created by African-Americans, an area for traveling or temporary exhibits, and a 500 seat theatre, which is used for plays, talks, and concerts.
[edit] Exhibitions
Exhibitions at the museum in March 2007 included: "381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story", "From Dreams to Determination: The Legacy of Doctors Percy and Anna Julian", and "Postal Portraits: African Americans and Stamps".
[edit] External links
- The DuSable Museum's Website
- History Makers biography on Margaret Burroughs
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Satellite image from Google Maps or Microsoft Virtual Earth
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