The nation’s first federally funded community-oriented museum is in Southeast Washington, in the District’s historic Anacostia neighborhood, just 10 minutes by car from the National Mall. The museum recently expanded its mission beyond a solely ethnic focus to include the impact of social and cultural issues on communities from both a contemporary and historical perspective. Dynamic exhibitions and programs offer exploration into areas that affect the lives of everyday people—work, family, housing, identity and leisure. Programs celebrate both the practical and innovative approaches that communities employ to navigate the ups and downs of life.

Exhibitions

“Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner Connecting Communities through Language” (Aug. 9 - March 27, 2011). In the 1930s, Turner discovered that the Gullah people of Georgia and South Carolina retained parts of the culture and language of their West African enslaved ancestors. See rare photographs, recordings and artifacts collected by Turner from those Gullah communities and Brazil and West Africa.

“Separate and Unequaled: Black Baseball in the District of Columbia” (indefinite) This exhibition looks at the phenomenal popularity and community draw of baseball played by such talented African-American athletes as Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard, stars of the Homestead Grays, who were setting records and drawing crowds on the segregated fields in Washington, D.C.