What is the Memory Book?

The virtual Memory Book is a place where visitors to the NMAAHC website may link their histories, stories, thoughts and ideas to museum offerings as well to memories contributed by other visitors.

As an example, here is the Memory offered by Lonnie Bunch, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture:

"In 1997, I was lecturing in South Africa. One day I found myself in the small city of Pietermaritzburg, which is located in Durban in Kwa Zulu Natal. This city has a significant Indian population and it was the site of Mahatma Gandhi's first brush with the racism of South Africa in 1903. While I was there, Nelson Mandela came to this city that was the ancestral homeland of his political and tribal rivals, the Zulus. He was to receive "the freedom of the city." I was privileged to sit on the podium as Mandela gave his speech. As is his custom, he spoke in several languages—from Xhosa to Zulu to N'debele—about his struggles against apartheid. And then in English he spoke about his 27 years in the prison on Robben Island. He said one of the things that gave him strength and substance was the history of the struggle for racial equality in America. He spoke passionately and eloquently of how American abolitionists such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass inspired him and helped him to believe that freedom and racial transformation were possible in South Africa.

Mandela's words helped me to remember the power of African American culture."

Just like Lonnie, you can connect your stories and oral histories with friends, family and new acquaintances through the NMAAHC virtual Memory Book. Your memories -- in the form of text, image and audio -- can be associated with Museum offerings, such as photographic portraits from the Let Your Motto Be Resistance traveling exhibit or tell a story about an article of historic meaning to you, your family and friends via the Save Our African American Treasures program. Memories may also be associated with offerings from other visitors, enabling the creation of a dynamic social network for the NMAAHC community.

When contributing to the Memory Book, you will have the ability to associate tags or words of meaning with your contribution, either from a pre-defined list of tags or a freeform entry of your own tag ideas. Community tags will also act as a catalyst to the building of the community.

In addition, you may associate your Memory with a geographical location, as well as the year of the memory to offer a historical timeframe. Postal/zip code information would be useful for future use in a dynamic timeline display associating stories, traditions and histories. By offering this information, you may be assisting others in their recollection of times past, as well as spurring them on to contribute to the Memory Book.

Join the NMAAHC community by registering on this site to start sharing your memories with other site visitors. All visitors can view the Memory Book but only registerd users can submit memories.

Terms and Conditions: Your contribution to the NMAAHC Memory Book is subject to terms and conditions outlined on our Privacy/Terms of Service page.