Search results for: anacostia community museum, page 1 | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution

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Barnett-Aden Collection: 100 Years of Multi-Ethnic Art Exhibition Records

Creator:: Barnett-Aden Gallery Search this; Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum Search this; Aden, Alonzo J., 1906-1963 Search this; Herring, James V. (James Vernon) Search this

Names:: Anacostia Neighborhood Museum Search this; Barnett-Aden Collection Search this; Corcoran Gallery of Art Search this

Extent:: 4.25 Linear feet (3 boxes; 1 oversize box; 2 binders)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Correspondence; Exhibit scripts; Exhibition records; Black-and-white transparencies; Catalogs; Black-and-white photographs; Contact sheets

Date:: 1973-1975

Summary:: This exhibition, organized by the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum (now the Anacostia Community Museum), was held from January 20 to May 6, 1974, and subsequently traveled to the Corcoran Gallery of Art from January 10 to February 1975. The catalog and associated exhibition provide a comprehensive view of the planning, organization, and promotion of them both. They include correspondence, research files, administrative records, press coverage, educational materials, and photographs. Collectively, these materials offer an in-depth look at the complexities and collaborative efforts involved in presenting the Barnett-Aden Collection of work.

Scope and Contents note:: This collection includes draft pages, revisions, and mockups that illustrate the iterative process of book creation, with Box 3 specifically featuring mockups for catalog publication accompanied by a memorandum. It also encompasses documentation related to exhibit planning, such as meeting notes, press releases, artifact lists, condition reports, and presentation notes for slide shows. Additionally, the series contains photographic materials, including prints of the artwork displayed in the exhibit, as well as images capturing the exhibition layouts and the opening reception.

Arrangement:: The collection is arranged into three main categories:

Series 1: Catalog

Series 2: Exhibit Files

Series 3: Photographic Material

Biographical / Historical:: The Barnett-Aden exhibition included selected works from the Barnett-Aden Gallery which closed in 1969. The Barnett- Aden Gallery, suggested to be the first African American privately-owned gallery in the U.S., open its doors on October 16, 1943. The gallery was founded by artist and scholar James V. Herring alongside his partner, curator Alonzo Aden. The gallery was housed in a private home that they shared, located at 127 Randolph Street NW in Washington, DC. These men aimed to create an art gallery that provided a venue for underrepresented artists of all races and genres. It was this partnership that laid the foundation for the shift in African American representation in modern art. Aden stated that the gallery's aim was to help foster new talent while also bringing "art of superior quality" to the community. Throughout this history, the gallery held almost 200 exhibitions and showcased the work of over 400 artists. In 2015, selected works were donated from the gallery connection to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to preserve the legacy of the Barnett-Aden Gallery and the tireless work of James V. Herring and Alonzo Aden for generations to come.

Rights:: Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Topic:: African American art -- Exhibitions Search this; Museum exhibits Search this; Art -- Exhibitions Search this

Genre/Form:: Correspondence; Exhibit scripts; Exhibition records -- 1967-1989; Black-and-white transparencies; Catalogs; Black-and-white photographs; Contact sheets

Citation:: Barnett-Aden Collection Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution; The Barnett-Aden Collection, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Identifier:: ACMA.03-010

Archival Repository:: Anacostia Community Museum Archives

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/qa74766566b-1ffd-477d-8966-594e944285b8

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-acma-03-010

Online Media:

Chionanthus virginicus 'CV1049' SERENITY

Life Form:: Deciduous tree

Average Height:: 10-15'

Foliage Characteristics:: Simple, green leaves with purple ribs

Structure:: Round

Range:: Cultivated

Topic:: Trees Search this; Living Collections Search this

Common Name:: Fringetree cultivar

Group:: [vascular plants]

Class:: Equisetopsida

Subclass:: Magnoliidae

Superorder:: Asteranae

Order:: Lamiales

Family:: Oleaceae

Genus:: Chionanthus

Species:: virginicus

Accession Number:: 2019-0275A

Restrictions & Rights:: Usage conditions apply

See more items in:: Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection

On Display:: Anacostia Community Museum

Data Source:: Smithsonian Gardens

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ax726a7d8de-43c9-4abd-8de0-b2c7848e53b2

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:ofeo-sg_2019-0275A

Online Media:

Chionanthus virginicus 'CV1049' SERENITY

Life Form:: Deciduous tree

Average Height:: 10-15'

Foliage Characteristics:: Yellow

Structure:: Round

Range:: Cultivated

Topic:: Trees Search this; Living Collections Search this

Common Name:: Fringetree cultivar

Group:: [vascular plants]

Class:: Equisetopsida

Subclass:: Magnoliidae

Superorder:: Asteranae

Order:: Lamiales

Family:: Oleaceae

Genus:: Chionanthus

Species:: virginicus

Accession Number:: 2019-0281A

Restrictions & Rights:: Usage conditions apply

See more items in:: Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection

On Display:: Anacostia Community Museum

Data Source:: Smithsonian Gardens

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ax7e3a40633-9150-4d78-b50b-bcfe19e86b19

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:ofeo-sg_2019-0281A

Online Media:

Chionanthus virginicus 'CV1049' SERENITY

Life Form:: Deciduous tree

Average Height:: 10-15'

Foliage Characteristics:: Simple, green leaves with purple ribs

Structure:: Round

Range:: Cultivated

Topic:: Trees Search this; Living Collections Search this

Common Name:: Fringetree cultivar

Group:: [vascular plants]

Class:: Equisetopsida

Subclass:: Magnoliidae

Superorder:: Asteranae

Order:: Lamiales

Family:: Oleaceae

Genus:: Chionanthus

Species:: virginicus

Accession Number:: 2019-0321A

Restrictions & Rights:: Usage conditions apply

See more items in:: Smithsonian Gardens Tree Collection

On Display:: Anacostia Community Museum

Data Source:: Smithsonian Gardens

GUID:: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ax707fcdbc6-1fb7-428d-ae9d-fa3eee7a2cb6

EDAN-URL:: edanmdm:ofeo-sg_2019-0321A

Online Media:

Undocumented Organizing Oral History Collection

Creator:: National Museum of American History (U.S.) Search this

Interviewer:: Centeno-Meléndez, José Search this; Ramirez, Marla Andrea Search this

Interviewee:: Arteaga, Stefania Search this; Barrios Chay, Elver Udiel Search this; Carvente, Miguel Search this; Castellanos, Maria Fernanda Search this; Choi, Glo Harn Search this; Godinez, Gladys Search this; Gonzalez, Yajaira Search this; Hinojosa Ruiz, Bruno Search this; Jeon, Hyo-Won Search this; Kim, Jung Woo Search this; Magaña Linares, César Search this; Merino, Oliver Search this; Morales, Jairo Javier Search this; Ramirez, Marla Andrea Search this; Salgado, Julio, 1983- Search this; Serrano, Moises Search this; Siliceo Perez, Carolina Search this

Extent:: 45.09 Gigabytes (17 .wav files, 34 .pdf files)

Culture:: Asian American Search this; Black American Search this; Central Americans -- United States Search this; Korean Americans Search this; Latinos Search this; South Americans -- United States Search this; Southern California Search this

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Gigabytes; Born digital; Identity cards; Transcripts

Place:: Chicago (Ill.); Los Angeles (Calif.); Nebraska; New York City; North Carolina; Washington (D.C.) -- Washington

Date:: 2019-2022

Summary:: Collection documents through born-digital oral histories the lives and experiences of undocumented community organizers and activists.

History of the Collecting Process:: The Undocumented Organizing Collecting Initiative is a multi-year effort to preserve histories of undocumented organizing in the United States. Collecting oral histories and objects from undocumented organizers in Southern California, Chicago, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City, the Initiative was the first collective research initiative to provide a national perspective on the multi-focal, multi-vocal undocumented organizing movement.

The Initiative is based out of the National Museum of American History's Center for Restorative History (CRH). The CRH works to redress exclusions in United States history using the principles of restorative justice. This project therefore centers the knowledge of undocumented organizers to address and document historical harms, present needs, and obligations in an effort to make history more accurate and inclusive.

The project's core team includes Patty Arteaga (Project Lead), Dr. Nancy Bercaw (Curator, Political History; Deputy Director, Center for Restorative History), José Centeno-Meléndez (Oral Historian), Delia Beristain Noriega (Assistant Oral Historian), and Alex Hanesworth (content creator and Project Director of Digital Media).

Scope and Contents:: This collection contains oral history interviews, interview transcripts, and indexes with timestamps and descriptions documenting the lives and experiences of undocumented organizers. In some cases, the original recordings and transcripts have been redacted upon request of the interviewee.

The oral histories cover immigration to the United States, community organizing work, and such topics as deportation, mass incarceration, anti-Black violence, family separation, and food insecurity.

Arrangement:: This collection is arranged into three series, each organized alphabetically by last name of interviewee.

Series 1: Transcripts, 2019-2022

Series 2: Born-Digital Interviews, 2019-2022

Series 3: Indexes, 2019-2022

Historical:: Undocumented organizers have played a crucial role in U.S. politics over the last 20 years, most notably by securing the first significant piece of immigration reform since the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The announcement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) in 2012 broke a logjam by securing a limited immigrant right, the first granted in 26 years. This achievement represented a signature moment in U.S. history echoing Emancipation, Women's Suffrage and the Civil Rights movements, where people without citizenship or the right to vote changed government policy.

The origins of undocumented organizing in the 21st century can be traced back to 2001, when undocumented youth pushed for access to higher education. Up to the moment of high school graduation, undocumented youth, then and today, are guaranteed access to a K-12 public education by the landmark Supreme Court decision in Plyer v. Doe (1982). Yet upon graduation, their futures are foreclosed without protected access to higher education. They face the choice of silently slipping into wage work or returning to their home country. In 2001, Senators Dick Durbin (IL) and Orrin Hatch (UT) responded to the crisis and introduced the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act.

What had seemed like an easy bill to pass became implausible after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Anti-immigrant sentiment spiked, encouraging Representative James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) to introduce highly restrictive immigration legislation in the Border Protection, Anti-terrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005. Using the only tool available to them, hundreds of thousands of immigrants across the United States took to the streets in May 2006. Many undocumented youth organizers remember this moment as a potent lesson, introducing them to the power of people's movements.

With strong training and support from immigrant rights organizations, such as CHIRLA, NILC, National Council of La Raza, UCLA Labor Center, Casa de Maryland, NAKASEC, Latin American Coalition, Community Change, and Make the Road New York, among others, young activists formed undocumented-led organizations such as United We Dream (UWD), Immigrant Youth Justice League (IYJL), LA DREAM Team, and the New York State Youth Leadership Council (NYSYLC). As directly-impacted people, undocumented youth set their own agenda and developed innovative mass mobilization tactics.

Inspired by the May 2006 marches, undocumented youth began to focus on direct-action campaigns which peaked in 2009-10. Wearing high school graduation robes, they traveled to the U.S. Capitol and conducted sit-ins in congressional offices to push the passage of the DREAM Act. Others built upon Black organizing traditions and walked 1,500 miles from Florida to Washington, D.C. Paying homage to Civil Rights activism, this march, known as the Trail of DREAMs, wound its way through the U.S. South facing Ku Klux Klan activity along the way. Early organizers also borrowed from LGBTQ+ organizing tactics by "coming out of the shadows" and declaring themselves "undocumented and unafraid," thereby risking deportation. Strategically, they announced their status through scripted narratives emphasizing their "Americanness" as high-achieving, English-speaking students raised on the American Dream. These strategies paid off. Anti-immigration sentiment still ran high, but popular opinion swung in favor of the DREAMers as "Americans" despite their legal status.

To take advantage of this political opening, undocumented organizers fiercely advocated that the DREAM Act be placed at the top of the immigration rights agenda. As DREAMers, they had a strong chance of success in creating the first pathway to citizenship since the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. They argued that the DREAM Act could serve as a wedge, widening the door for other immigrants to gain legal status. Immigrant rights organizations disagreed, unwilling to shift attention away from comprehensive immigration reform. This caused a rupture that resulted in undocumented activists breaking away from the immigrant rights platform and trusting their own knowledge and experience over those in established systems of power.

Lacking a large national organization to direct and mobilize campaigns, undocumented activists used the internet to create new systems for organizing. They constructed DREAMActivist.org to coordinate events nationwide, held synchronous Coming Out of the Shadows events, and ran online forums to share up-to-date information with chat rooms on how to navigate daily life as an undocumented person.

They pushed for the DREAM Act coordinating nationwide events to rally support for their cause including marches, demonstrations, sit-ins, fasting campaigns, and walkouts. Yet after nine years of gridlock, in 2010 Congress failed to pass the DREAM Act by five votes. Suddenly, the youth and students who had stepped forward faced an even greater risk of deportation.

In the wake of the DREAM Act's failure, undocumented organizers regrouped. A dedicated legal team investigated a largely-unknown administrative practice called "deferred action" from deportation. Presidents employed deferred action on a case-by-case basis to protect immigrants from deportation. What if this could be implemented more broadly? Working with immigration attorneys, organizers presented their case to the Obama administration requesting action on temporary relief. When the White House failed to act, they took to the streets. Undocumented people demonstrated, marched and even took over President Obama's re-election campaign offices. By applying pressure to the presidency, undocumented youth were once again putting forward all their energy to stop their own deportation and arrive at a solution, even if a temporary one.

On June 15, 2012, President Obama announced an executive action, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). The program offered some undocumented youth a two-year, renewable protected status to pursue employment if they could prove the following: that they arrived before their 16th birthday; could demonstrate living continuously in the United States since June 15, 2007; had not committed a felony; and were under 31 years of age.

DACA was in effect for five years when the Trump administration rescinded the program on September 5, 2017. Challenging the administration in court, undocumented organizers eventually took their case to the Supreme Court and won. Yet the June 18, 2020, Supreme Court majority opinion ruled based on a technicality and made no judgement on the validity of deferred action. At the time of this writing (March 31, 2023), legal statuses such as DACA, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and Deferred Enforced Department (DED) face intense challenges in the courts, the U.S. Congress, and state and local legislatures.

After securing DACA in 2012, the movement shifted. Recognizing that DACA only protected youth, and only a fraction of that population, undocumented organizers expanded their action to advocate for all 12 million undocumented U.S. residents. While some continue to organize nationally, successfully swinging presidential and U.S. Congressional elections and aggressively pursuing action in the courts, others explore goals aimed at relieving systematic oppression. Daily deportations separated families, leaving infants without parents and grandparents without loved ones. Building upon political practices from their home countries and combining them with lessons learned from Black freedom struggle, the Chicano movement, indigenous claims to sovereignty and LGBTQ+ liberation, undocumented activists organize for liberation. Moving beyond a civil rights/ immigrant rights paradigm, undocumented organizers are reconfiguring fundamentals of U.S. democracy by calling out the exclusionary nature of "rights" and "citizenship." Likewise, they actively wrestle with identity-based politics through coalition building across Black, (Afro)Latinx, Asian and queer communities against deportation, incarceration, and state surveillance. Grounded in community needs, they take a holistic approach that refuses to focus on one issue, one identity, over another.

These actions include (but are not limited to):

287(g): To protect residents from deportation, many successfully swing local elections to elect anti-287(g) candidates. 287(g) is a small clause in the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act that permits sheriffs to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) whenever they detain a person. In many places, 287g means that a random traffic stop, a broken taillight, jaywalking, or simply looking "foreign" can trigger a deportation pipeline—regardless of whether a person has broken the law.

Anti-Deportation Measures: As deportations spike, undocumented organizers employ a variety of tactics to protect families and communities. Many work on educating community members, organizing "Know Your Rights" campaigns. Others coordinate with abolition groups to halt the militarization of local police by federal agencies through direct action campaigns and court filings. Since September 11, 2001, the federal presence in local communities has spiked. Undocumented organizers closely monitor these agencies to block new policies that otherwise fly under the radar in the national political arena. (Also see 287(g))

Citizenship for All: After DACA (2012), many organizers began to question the tactic of emphasizing "Americanness" and "worthiness" to gain citizenship. Only an estimated 800,000 undocumented people applied for and qualified for DACA, leaving over 11 million without protection. Undocumented organizers shifted focus to campaign for citizenship that was not exclusionary, advocating for citizenship for all.

Economic Empowerment: To immediately address limited economic and homeownership opportunities for undocumented individuals without social security numbers, many organizers across the country devised innovative economic empowerment programs to support or create businesses owned by undocumented people. Others have formed economic cooperatives to acquire property.

Cultural Activism: The threat of deportation leaves many undocumented people living in isolation with limited access to community. By organizing around culture — festivals, music production, artistic expression — activists provide spaces, both virtually and in-person, for undocumented people to celebrate the richness of who they are as individuals and as a collective.

Beyond Citizenship: Those deported or voluntarily returned to their home country quickly recognize that they were misunderstood and stigmatized in both countries. Both "nation" and "citizenship", they argue, perpetuate exclusion, removing acceptance, services, belonging, and a life free from persecution. Emphasizing trans-local organizing, activists work to connect people on both sides of the border to provide the resources they need. They advocate for normalizing and decriminalizing migration to permit families to see friends and loved ones regardless of where they live.

Definitions

Undocumented refers to an individual's status who reside in the United States without a pathway to U.S. citizenship. Whether migrating to the United States as minors or adults, these residents are not granted permanent legal status by the U.S. government. Those who identify as undocumented have unfixed (or liminal) legal statuses including those 1) who are stateless (without citizenship in any country); 2) who are without U.S. citizenship or U.S. visas; and 3) who have temporary legal status such as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), Deferred Enforced Department (DED), or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Without the protection of U.S. citizenship, undocumented individuals live and work with the constant threat of surveillance and deportation. Moreover, they are blocked from national programs providing access to fair housing, healthcare, and workers' rights, among others.

Undocumented organizing refers to political mobilizing led by undocumented individuals from 2001 to the present. The essential feature separating undocumented organizing from earlier forms of activism is the public declaration of legal status by movement leaders. Risking deportation, family separation, and loss of community, they choose to openly declare themselves "undocumented." This action provides the opportunity to speak freely about the conditions that they and their communities face. By "coming out of the shadows," they step into leadership positions and form their own organizations. By directly representing their communities, undocumented organizers have created a new sphere of highly effective immigrant rights organizing.

Related Materials:: Materials at the National Museum of American History

The Division of Political History holds the following materials related to undocumented organizing:

2006.0106; 2006.0211 - Posters, leaflets, and other objects documenting protests and demonstrations, such as the Immigration March (April 10, 2006, Washington D.C.) and the Great American Boycott/Day Without An Immigrant (May 1, 2006)

2018.0073 - Posters and clothing, including monarch butterfly wings, used in the DACA protest on March 5, 2018

2018.0156 - Friendship bracelets made by teenage girls in a Texas detention center

2018.0198 - Poster, "Stand with Immigrant Workers"

2019.0321 - Moises Serrano Collection (North Carolina). Identification cards including passport, drivers licenses, Mexican consulate card, Latino Credit Union card, and DACA identification cards

2020.0018 - Bruno Hinojosa Collection (North Carolina). Brick from Poder Emma's cooperatively-owned community center and T-shirt from "The Dream is Coming" campaign

2020.0048 - Javier Jairo Morales Collection (Chicago, IL). Graduation cap, gown, stole, and monarch butterfly wings

2022.0130 - Elver Barrios Collection (North Carolina). Graduation cap, gown, and honor society cords; megaphone; water bottle; messenger bag; and campaign literature

2022.0150 - Juan Escalante Collection. T-shirts from "The Dream is Coming" and "Undocumented, Unafraid"

2022.0234 - Yajaira Gonzalez Collection (Nebraska). Planner, graduation cap, photographs, and books

2022.0286 - Gaby Pacheco Collection (Florida). Shoes worn on Trail of Dreams March

2022.0287 - Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez Collection (Florida). Boots worn on Trail of Dreams March

Materials at the Anacostia Community Museum Archives

Gateway/Portales Exhibition Records (ACMA Acc. 03-102)

Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records (ACMA Acc. 03-027)

Provenance:: Made for the National Museum of American History by the Undocumented Organizing Collecting Initiative between 2019-2024.

Restrictions:: Collection is open for research. Access and use of born-digital audio materials available in the Archives Center reading room or by requesting copies of materials at RightsReproductions@si.edu.

Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:: Access to Higher Education Search this; Activism Search this; Black Lives Matter movement Search this; Black people -- History Search this; Black people -- Race identity Search this; Citizenship Search this; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Search this; Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (U.S.) Search this; Deportation Search this; Detention of persons -- United States Search this; Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) Search this; Drivers' licenses Search this; English language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers Search this; Immigrants Search this; Immigrants -- United States Search this; LGBTQ+ Search this; Mexican Americans Search this; Oral history Search this; Personal narratives Search this; Political activists Search this; Political campaigns Search this; Protest and social movements Search this; Social justice Search this; Storytelling Search this; Student movements Search this

Genre/Form:: Born digital; Identity cards; Transcripts

Citation:: Undocumented Organizing Oral History Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Identifier:: NMAH.AC.1581

See more items in:: Undocumented Organizing Oral History Collection

Archival Repository:: Archives Center, National Museum of American History

GUID:: https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ep81623a1a0-ddf7-47ac-84c3-943580558303

EDAN-URL:: ead_collection:sova-nmah-ac-1581

Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records

Creator:: Smithsonian Institution. Anacostia Community Museum Search this

Names:: Anacostia Community Museum Search this

Extent:: 21.6 Cubic feet (consisting of 17 cartons, 2 oversized boxes.)

Type:: Collection descriptions; Archival materials; Transcripts; Color slides; Exhibition records; Exhibit scripts; Contact sheets; Photographic prints; Correspondence

Place:: Washington Metropolitan Area

Date:: 1942-1998

Summary:: These records document the planning, organizing, execution, and promotion of an exhibition exploring the immigration of people of African descent from Central and South America and the Caribbean to the Washington Metropolitan Area. The show was organized and hosted by the Anacostia Museum from August 21, 1994 through August 7, 1995. Materials include correspondence, research files, exhibit script, administrative records, brochures, press coverage, education packets, loan agreements, floor plans, and catalogues.

Scope and Contents:: The records of the Black Mosaic exhibition presented by the Anacostia Community Museum measure 21.6 cubic feet and date from 1942 to 1998, with the bulk of material dating from 1990 to 1995. The records include administrative records, publications, research files, floor plans, exhibit text drafts, oral history transcripts, and project files for programs coordinated for or tangentially with the Black Mosaic Exhibit.

Administrative records include advisory board member lists, meeting minutes, agendas, grant proposals, project reports and assessments, correspondence, training material for museum volunteers and docents, and assorted notes. Publications within the series directly relate to the Black Mosaic Exhibit and the Anacostia Community Museum. Correspondence includes both internal correspondence and those with local community members.

Writings and notes were previously scattered throughout the collection have been collocated within the Administrative Records series, and a majority are undated. The notes cover topics ranging from administrative activities to exhibit and research planning. Included are printed documents, scrap paper, and spiral-bound notebooks.

The research files contain background information about numerous immigrant communities within Washington D.C. The community research files were originally organized by country, continent, or region of origin, and then later by subjects that coordinated with the exhibit's designated themes. This organization method has largely been maintained. Research files include scholarly articles, news clippings, event programs, compiled bibliographies, and material related to the study of museology.

The exhibit files include floor plan layouts, photocopies of images, interview transcripts, exhibit literature, and extensive exhibit text drafts. Drafts of the exhibit's text include notes throughout multiple editing stages. Additionally, copies of flip books for different thematic sections of the Black Mosaic exhibit are included and are organized alphabetically by title. Other exhibit literature present is primarily in English with one French copy present.

The project files include training material for collecting oral histories and documenting community folklife, conference records, event records, and records pertaining to related projects at the Anacostia Community Museum. Concurrent projects supporting the exhibit include the Black Mosaic community newsletter and an educational curriculum project. Additional project records that thematically overlap with the Black Mosaic exhibit but extend beyond the timeframe of the formal exhibit are present also.

Arrangement:: Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. exhibition records are arranged in four series:

Series 1: Administrative Records

Series 2: Research Files

Series 3: Exhibit Files

Series 4: Project Files

Historical Note:: The exhibit Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. was curated by the Anacostia Community Museum's supervisory curator Portia James, and was open at the Anacostia Community Museum from August 1994 to August 1995. The exhibition explored the immigration of people of African descent from South America, Central America, and the Caribbean to the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Topics addressed in the exhibition include migration, situations faced by Black immigrants, the maintenance of relationships with places of origin, community events and cultural performances, public and private expressions of culture, commodification of culture for economic support, and the expression of multiple identities. Some intentions of the exhibit were to provide forums for discussing culture and identity, provide resources for people learning about communities in the Washington Metro area, and to be a model to other museums and cultural institutions for understanding and interpreting similar immigration and settlement patterns.

The exhibit was designed to be experienced with broader cultural concepts being introduced towards the external part of the exhibit, while personal stories could be experienced further in. Over 100 oral history interviews featured prominently in the exhibit where interviewed individuals explained their immigration experience and how they've adapted to life in the area. The exhibit also included mounted photographs, artifacts, music, and conversations. Artifacts included passport photos, tickets, family photographs, and letters. The exhibit's text displayed in three languages: English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. There were additional exhibition guides provided in Brazilian Portuguese, French, and the Ghanaian languages of Ga, Twi, Akan, and Ewe.

Coupled with the exhibit, the museum coordinated an extensive series of programs to engage various communities in the exploration of issues and traditions. These programs included creating newsletters and a photograph exhibit to keep the community up to date about the progression of the exhibit, working with performance groups, creating multi-institutional partnerships in order to develop more effective methods of collecting oral histories, and collaborating and modeling for the CFPCS African Immigrant Communities project.

Provenance:: Records of Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity Among Black Immigrants in Washington, D.C. Exhibition were created by the Anacostia Community Museum.

Restrictions:: Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.

Rights:: Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.

Topic:: Immigrants -- United States -- Exhibitions Search this; Museum exhibits Search this

Genre/Form:: Transcripts; Color slides; Exhibition records -- 1990-2004; Exhibit scripts; Contact sheets; Photographic prints; Correspondence

Citation:: Black Mosaic: Community, Race, and Ethnicity among Black Immigrants in Washington, D. C. Exhibition Records, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsor:: Funding for partial processing of the collection was supported by a grant from the Smithsonian Institution's Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF).