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The Program in African American Culture (PAAC) offers learning experiences based on the stories, objects, and culture of African Americans for visitors to the Museum in PAAC programs. The purpose of PAAC is to inspire a broader understanding of America by celebrating, honoring, and validating the African American experience. PAAC presents programming throughout the year including “Lift Every Voice” interactive tours, which highlight African American history. It also annually commemorates the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday with programming exploring the Civil Rights Movement.
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Recently PAAC has looked back at the Montgomery Bus Boycott on its 50th anniversary with its “Walking Montgomery” programs in 2006. In collaboration with Smithsonian Discovery Theater, PAAC presented its interactive program “Trickster Tales and Sea Island Songs” to young visitors in the summer of 2006. “We Shall Overcome: The 40th Anniversary of the Voting Rights March,” PAAC’s original living history and musical tribute to the civil rights activists who struggled to bring about the Voting Rights Act was presented between May and September 2005. More than 17,000 Museum visitors participated in “We Shall Overcome” and the program was also a featured part of the United States Justice Department’s commemoration of the Voting Rights Act. In September 2005, PAAC presented “Robert Williams and the Origins of Black Power” which featured a screening of the PBS documentary “Negroes with Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power.”
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PAAC began in 1972 as a research group to develop the African Diaspora program at the Smithsonian’s Festival of American Folklife. PAAC became part of the National Museum of American History in 1982. The many symposiums, festivals, workshops, and other multifaceted events have explored abundant rich topics and contributed tremendously to the understanding of African American history and culture. Vocalist, scholar, and civil rights activist Bernice Johnson Reagon founded the program and served as its director until 1989. As director until 2003, Niani Kilkenny continued the important work of the program, honoring those who put their bodies on the line as activists in the Civil Rights Movement and exploring numerous significant topics. Christopher W. Wilson became the director in 2004.
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Contact
E-mail: Contact form Phone: 202-633-4176
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