DuSable Museum - Chicago
DuSable Museum - Chicago
Opened in 1961, to a lack of recognition that a diverse group of Chicago artists and educators, including Margaret and Charles Burroughs, felt was happening to black history and culture in the education establishment, and they founded a museum dedicated especially for that very purpose.
The Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art was begun in the former home of south side contractor John Griffin that was converted into the Quincy Club and later served as a boarding home for railroad workers before becoming the Burroughs' home.
It took 8 more years for the museum to be renamed. In 1968, the museum was renamed after Jean Baptist Pointe DuSable, a Haitian fur trader who was the first permanent settler of color in Chicago. In 1971, they petitioned the Chicago Park District for permission to use the former park administration building, and that permission was granted.
The museum is now recognized as the city's principal memorial to Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable and the eighth member of the consortium of museums on Park District land.
There are a myriad of things to see that make up this museum, additional gallery space was added in 1993, and there is now two floors of artworks and creations to be viewed. Additionally there is a 450-seat theatre.
The DuSable Museum of African-American History is the oldest museum of its type in the country and is the only major independent institution in Chicago established to preserve and interpret the historical experiences and high achievements of African-Americans.
