| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 21, 2009
Press Contacts
202-653-4632
Jeannine Mjoseth, jmjoseth@imls.gov
Mamie Bittner, mbittner@imls.gov
IMLS Announces 2009
African American History and Culture Grants,
Convenes Annual Meeting of Grantees
Washington, DC—On
July 21, the Institute of Museum and Library Services
(IMLS) awarded $1.31 million to 11 organizations dedicated
to preserving the history of African American life from
the period of slavery to the present day as part of the
Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
(AAHC) program.
Since 2006, AAHC grants have helped African
American museums and Historically Black Colleges and Universities
(HBCUs) build capacity by supporting professional training,
technical assistance, internships, and expert consultations.
The grant program is authorized by the National Museum
of African American History and Culture Act and developed
in consultation with the Council and Director of the Smithsonian’s
National Museum of African American History and Culture
(NMAHHC).
“African American history is American
history, and the recipients of this year’s African
American History and Culture grants understand that they
are cultivating the next generation of stewards of our
collective American story,” said Anne-Imelda Radice,
Director of IMLS. “IMLS is proud to support their
work.”
This year, awardees that have proposed
significant projects that will strengthen the African
American museum field include:
- The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive
Center, Indianola, MS, will support professional training
and development for key members of its staff through
participation in national conferences, a series of management
seminars, and enrollment in the Jekyll Island Management
Institute.
- The Ohio Historical Society/National Afro-American
Museum and Cultural Center, Wilberforce, OH, will send
staff to formal training in archival processing, database
management, and digitization to help them build a sustainable
program for the ongoing care of the museum’s collections.
- The Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn,
NY, will establish a department of preservation and
collections to more effectively interpret the site of
one of the first free African American communities in
the nation.
Click
here for more information about this year’s grantees.
In addition to grant making,
IMLS works closely with the National Museum of African
American History and Culture to convene an annual meeting
for past grantees to share lessons learned and strengthen
networks. On June 25-26, representatives of 16 current
AAHC grantee institutions met in Washington to share the
successes and challenges in implementing their IMLS-funded
projects with their peers and IMLS staff. Kinshasha Holman
Conwill, Deputy Director of the National Museum of African
American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution,
and IMLS Director Radice both spoke to the group.
Projects highlighted at the
meeting included a national profile of African American
Museums; a project to build institutional capacity and
sustainability of African American museums throughout
Florida; and a series of workshops and a summer internship
program designed to benefit African American museums in
the Baltimore area.
Following the convening, Jane
Penn and Sheila McDaniel of the Studio Museum in Harlem,
New York, NY, wrote IMLS staff to say, “We found
the gathering extremely fruitful – meeting our colleagues,
hearing the stories and sharing the lessons. We also appreciated
the care and effort your team put forth ensuring that
our experience was a rewarding one.”
The next deadline for the
Museum Grants for African American History and Culture
program is January 15, 2010. Click
here for more information.
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