National Museum of African American History and Culture
Smithsonian museum telling the African American story in a striking bronze-latticed building.
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the Smithsonian Institution's museum devoted to documenting African American life, history and culture. It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of campaigning, and opened to the public on 24 September 2016 on a five-acre site on the National Mall, beside the Washington Monument. Since opening it has welcomed millions of visitors and built a collection of tens of thousands of objects, ranging from everyday items to artefacts associated with nationally significant figures and events.
The building was designed by Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup, with David Adjaye as lead designer and Philip Freelon as lead architect. Its most recognisable feature is the corona, a three-tiered outer skin of bronze-coloured cast-aluminium panels whose form draws on crowned Yoruba caryatid sculpture and whose lattice pattern references historic ironwork made by enslaved and free Black craftsmen in the American South. A large proportion of the museum lies below ground, while a south-facing porch provides a sheltered entrance facing the Mall.
Visits typically begin in the underground history galleries, where a sequence of ramped levels traces the story from the transatlantic slave trade and the era of slavery through segregation to the civil rights movement and the present. The upper floors house community and culture galleries covering music, sport, the visual arts, the military and religion. The Contemplative Court, with its falling water and oculus, offers a space for reflection, and the building also contains the Oprah Winfrey Theater, a family history centre and a restaurant.
Highlights
- Bronze-toned corona inspired by Yoruba carving and Southern ironwork traditions
- Underground history galleries spanning slavery to the present day
- Contemplative Court with a cascading water feature and oculus
- Culture galleries on music, sport, visual arts and the military
- Views across the National Mall towards the Washington Monument
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