African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County
Current Exhibits
Past Exhibits
Expressions of Untold Stories
The exhibit closed July 2025 - thank you for coming!
Presented by Huron High School’s 10th Grade African American Humanities Accelerated Class (AC). This powerful exhibit featured student artwork inspired by August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and the African American experience in the early 20th century. Guided by teachers Anthony Stewart and Kimberly Wright, students explored symbolism, identity, and heritage—drawing inspiration from a visit to the Jon Onye Lockard: Sankofa exhibit.
Their work was displayed alongside Lockard’s paintings, creating an intergenerational dialogue through art. Reflecting the spirit of Sankofa—"It is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten"—this exhibit honored the past while inspiring the future.
Black History: Local Roots
The exhibit closed 6/8/25 - thank you for coming!
Black History: Local Rootscelebrates the African American presence in Washtenaw County through stories, artifacts, publications and photographs. QR codes connect visitors’smart devices to online audio, video and oral histories formore learning and exploration. These vignettes are about local residents and the history they made. Each of the highlighted stories or pieces of art in this exhibit has enough history to be an entire exhibit on their own. Visitors are welcome to browse the bookshelves and invited to spend some time reading at the library table. There are historical books, community souvenir programs, magazines and publications about local and national Black history.
It Figures!
The exhibit closed - thank you for coming!
The African American Cultural and Historical Museum of Washtenaw County proudly presents a powerful exhibit honoring the richness and diversity of Black history. Centered on the museum's mission to collect, preserve, and showcase African American heritage, this exhibit explores how artifacts connect past and present—while building a legacy for future generations.
In collaboration with IT Figures, LLC, visitors will experience a unique collection of African American action figures representing historic icons and modern trailblazers. From Martin Luther King Jr. and Ida B. Wells to Nas, Bob Marley, and Storm from the X-Men, these lifelike figures bring history to life through art and storytelling. Founded by Cedric and Tiffany Porties, IT Figures, LLC uses collectible figures and strength-based, social-emotional programming to empower youth through stories of perseverance, resilience, and greatness.
This exhibit is made possible with support from the Mosaic Foundation of Rita & Peter Heydon, Creative Washtenaw, and IT Figures, LLC.
Family Foundations
The exhibit closed - thank you for coming!
This interactive exhibit features the origin stories of four historic Black families from the area, the Jewett and Asher-Aray families from Ann Arbor and Pittsfield Township, and the Kersey and Bass families from Ypsilanti. Using photographs, records, and oral histories, the descendants retell the stories of how their families laid the foundation for generations of Black community building to come.
At the 2 day event, we had speakers from almost each family to give an introduction of their family’s background in Washtenaw County.
This exhibit is made possible with support from Washtenaw Community College, Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan LSA Humanities Collaboratory, and Ann Arbor District Library.
The Great Migration: Millions Moved
The exhibit closed - thank you for coming!
This exhibit explores the First Migration through the eyes of artist Jacob Lawrence who was 23 years old when he completed painting his “Migration Series”(1940-41), the same year the Second Migration began. Watch the intergenerational dialogues between local high school and college students and community members that give insight into the First and Second Migration as they share their own family’s stories. Click here to watch those interviews.
This exhibit is presented in collaboration with University of Michigan Turner African American Services Council (TAASC), Bethel AME Church, Ann Arbor District Library, Jacob and Gwendolyn Knight Lawrence Foundation, Seattle/Artists Rights Society, New York and the Phillips Collection, Washington DC.
Photo: Segregated waiting room at Jacksonville Florida’s Union Station railroad depot, 1921. The Jacksonville train station, completed in 1919, wasthe largest in the South. Many southern blacks caught transportation North from this station. (Photographer: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory)