African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County
Donations are Appreciated. The AACHM is a non profit 501c3 organization.
Dr. George Jewett, Michigan's True Renaissance Man
Architect Hilyard Robinson and the Parkridge Homes Community
AACHM@1528:Where Art Meets History
Currently on Exhibit at the AACHM: Expressions of Untold Stories 2025
Visitors will see original artwork and read artist statements about pieces created by the 2025 Ann Arbor Huron High School's 10th Grade African American Advanced Placement Humanities class. It's a unique opportunity to see how youth interpret history and current events. The Museum is open Saturdays and Sundays from 12-4pm. For more information email info@aachm.org
Woodlawn Cemetery Restoration
In 1946, Pastor Garther Roberson Senior purchased a plot of land in Ypsilanti to provide a resting place for Black community members when there were few options due to discrimination and racism. Woodlawn Cemetery, the only documented Black cemetery in the County, has since fallen into disrepair.Initial research indicates that Woodlawn Cemetery has served as the final resting place for over 150 African Americans whose lives were central to the development and history of Ypsilanti and broader Washtenaw County. Historic burial records, including grave locations, were lost in a fire sometime in the 1950s-1960s. Utilizing historic newspapers, death certificates, and other gray literature, approximately 61 individuals have been identified as Woodlawn Cemetery burials. Over the years, the cemetery has faced environmental degradation and the natural effects of time. This Restoration Project includes the necessary steps to preserve and protect the historic cemetery for future generations while maintaining its historical integrity.
This project is made possible through the collaborative efforts of multiple organizations: Washtenaw County Historic District Commission, the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County, and Ypsilanti Township, the Roberson Family, and descendants of family members for whom Woodlawn Cemetery was their final resting place to restore the site.
Do you have a relative buried at Woodlawn Cemetery? If so, please contact Project Coordinators at historicpreservation@washtenaw.org to assist with adding them to the list.
The African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County is located at 3261 Lohr Road in Ann Arbor, MI. The Museum is open on Saturday & Sunday, 12 noon-4pm and weekdays by appointment. Please call 734-761-1717 to request a weekday or group tour. Or use the links above.
2024 - "Celebrating Kwanzaa in Difficult and Demanding Times:Lifting Up the Light that Lasts"
The community is invited to celebrate Kwanzaa with the African American Cultural & Historical Museum of Washtenaw County. There are seven days and many ways to participate!
Umoja (Unity) To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.
Kujichagulia (Self-Determination) To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.
Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility) Collective Work and Responsibility: To build and maintain our community together, make our community’s problems our problems, and solve them together.
Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) To build and maintain stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.
Nia (Purpose) To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.
Kuumba (Creativity) To always do as much as we can to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
Imani (Faith) To believe with all our hearts in our people and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.
Journey to Freedom Underground Railroad Bus Tour
The Journey to Freedom Underground Railroad bus tour will explore locations within Washtenaw County. The tour begins Sunday, October 20th, 2pm at the Ypsilanti District Library, 5577 Whittaker Rd, Ypsilanti, MI 48197, and returns at 5pm. The library is host to the exhibit, “Through Darkness to Light: Photographs along the Underground Railroad”, by Jeanine Michna-Bales. Guests are encouraged to arrive by 1-1:30pm to view this exhibit, and use restrooms. This will be the last day for the exhibit. Most sites on the tour can be viewed from the bus, but there will be opportunities to get off at a few locations. Transportation is provided by Golden Limousine. Light refreshments available on bus.
Cost $35 for adults, $25 for students and seniors 60 yrs and above.
Tour Docent Deborah Meadows (L) ans Jeanine-Michna Bales, the photographer of the exhibit, “Through Darkness to Light: Photographs of the Underground Railroad” at the Whittaker Ypsilanti library;
Letitia Byrd wants to create a black history museum in the 1825 house that her husband, David, renovated in the 1970s and '80s. Byrd, with newspaper stories on the renovation, said the museum would be created to honor her late husband, a restoration expert who used the home as his office. (2001)
The work at 3261 Lohr Road has been steady but the construction timeline has been pushed back a little. The Grand Opening planned for October 6 is being rescheduled for late Fall. If you would like to be informed of the new date, watch this site or click here to be added to the email list.
Thank you to everyone who donated to the Museum's 30 Days $30k Challenge. Contributions are still welcome and every dollar is appreciated. During the building renovation, unexpected repairs that needed to be made were discovered. We are encouraged by the community support
The AACHM thanks the community for supporting us at 1528 Pontiac Trail for the past 3 years as our lease comes to an end on July 31.We are so excited to welcome you at 3261 Lohr Road in the late Fall, but we still need your help to complete the first phase of renovations and purchase the necessary furnishings for the building.
As a supporter of AACHM you understand the important role that preserving local history plays in strengthening our community and providing the foundation for future generations. When you donate to AACHM, you are part of a movement to honor those who came before us and connect their knowledge, joy, struggles, and values with our own. Please join us in this exciting challenge to raise $30,000 in 30 days by July 31, 2024.
We look forward to seeing you in the Fall when we open at our permanent location in the Dr. David R. Byrd Center and Wilsey-Sperry-Nelson Farm Historic District at at 3261 Lohr Road in Ann Arbor. Your donations, and the generous support of the Song Foundation and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation have been instrumental in this phase of our progress. Thank you
Thank you for attending the last exhibit at 1528 Pontiac Trail!
It figures... that the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County would curate a family-friendly, fun exhibit from objects, artifacts and art in our Collection. You will see a Buffalo Soldier uniform, furniture from the 1850s and 1860s, African carved figures, original artwork and the typewriter that the first Black US Library of Congress Poet Laureate used and more. Guests are welcome to look through the books, photos and publications that have been donated to the Museum for community education. IT Figures, LLC is exhibiting some of their collection of African American figures of historical icons and current trailblazers. From Civil Rights and educational leaders to cultural arts giants that span generations, these artistically detailed figures bring life to history. You will see Martin Luther King Jr., Ida B. Wells, Nas, Storm of the X- Men, Bob Marley and more.The exhibit closed on June 30.
This exhibit is made possible with contributions from the Mosaic Foundation of Rita & Peter Heydon, Creative Washtenaw and IT Figures, LLC.
Black History Moments
In partnership with the African American Cultural History Museum of Washtenaw County, WEMU honored Black History Month each day in February with a Black History Moment that recognized significant contributions to Washtenaw County by the African American community. Black History Moments are archived here where you can listen anytime.
ONLINE EXHIBIT - “Hold Me Up” Narrative Histories of Black Community Building in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, 1920s-1970s. This project features five narrative histories of Black communal, institutional and political life in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti from the 1920s through the 1970s. Each account centers a particular topic: experiences of childhood, Black religious institutions, adult education and the importance of Black History, battles over racial inequality in housing, and Black Power institution building. The project builds upon and honors the storytellers and institutions that have long centered Black communities in the history of Washtenaw County (indeed, you can find a list of those important institutions and projects on the homepage). While students drew from the rich collections of the Bentley, they also relied significantly upon digitized materials from the Ypsilanti Historical Society, Ann Arbor District Library and the African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County (AACHM).
Five undergraduate fellows (Krista Albetins, Isabella Buzynski, Paige Hodder, Miriam Saperstein and Bennett Walling) collaborated with Greg Parker (Public Engagement Manager), Eshe Sherley (Doctoral Candidate, History) and UM Assistant Professor Jennifer Dominique Jones, Ph.D to create a public history project that expands the topical scope of the Michigan in the World Program. Given the reverberations of COVID 19, a significant portion of the Bentley Historical Library’s holdings had to be digitized prior to the start of the program. Sarah McLusky and Cinda Nofziger generously helped to survey the collections, while Brian Williams shared his expertise about and access to African American Alumni files. The digitization team scanned newspaper articles, photographs, correspondence, organizational records and a very fragile scrapbook from the 1930s so that students could access the documents remotely. Their labor and generosity combined with the generous support of Terry McDonald, Director of the Bentley- was instrumental to the project’s success.
Black History - James Baldwin - Pin Drop Speech
Black History Month is an annual recognition of the history, achievements, and influence of the Black diaspora.The theme for 2022 focuses on the importance of Black Health and Wellness. This theme acknowledges the legacy of not only Black scholars and medical practitioners in Western medicine, but also other ways of knowing (e.g., birthworkers, doulas, midwives, naturopaths, herbalists, etc.) throughout the African Diaspora.
Enslaved or free, patriarchal or matriarchal, single-headed or dual-headed household, extended or nuclear, fictive kin or blood lineage, legal or common law. Pressures that may pull black families apart also often unite us.
Covid 19 Pandemic Stories - Telling Tales Out of School
The Student Advocacy Center of Michigan’s annual social justice art project elevates the recent experiences of their students. This 2021 project was like none other, because this year is like none other. Students are struggling. They are hurting. Virtual school is temporary for most, but many Student Advocacy Center youth have been forced into virtual settings for many, many years. For this project, SAC students were given two questions to answer:
The artist family Anna Oginsky (Heart Connected}, Sarah Richards (Ananda Wellness) and their mom, Kathleen Hodges turned these answers into art.
They re-purposed "found" computers and parts and covered them with the messages of reflection and hope from SAC students. This photo of the piece for the AACHM was taken in the dining room of the David R. Byrd Center on Lohr Road.
The historic farmhouse is more than 150 years old, built on land that was platted in 1825 and was restored by David and Letitia Byrd.
The tools of school were
a slate and chalk, so visually similar to the black and white tools our students use today.
