Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: Era of Segregation 1876-1968 Exhibition

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Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: Era of Segregation 1876-1968 Exhibition

Slavery and Freedom is one of the exhibitions of the The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). NMAAHC is located on 14th Street and Northwest Constitution Street in the National Mall. This four-story museum opened on September 24, 2016, becoming the only national museum dedicated to recording the life, history and culture of African Americans. The Smithsonian Institution Museum is an architectural wonder with many interactive exhibits.[1]

Defending freedom, defining freedom: The era of apartheid 1876-1968 documented the critical elements of this movement and revealed how African Americans not only resolved the problems they faced, but also played an important role in their own country. Through their struggle, they challenged the country to realize their ideals of freedom and equality. It also examines how these struggles changed the country and made it more synchronized with the declaration of freedom, equality and democracy. This period is a critical period for the United States and African Americans. It tests whether African Americans will have full citizenship after more than 250 years of slavery.[2]

History and Collection

The exhibition will lead visitors from the late reconstruction to the civil rights movement in the 1960s. It has a rich history and artifacts that can capture the main aspects of the entire country, especially African Americans, in the ongoing struggle to define and realize the meaning of freedom. The exhibition shows how African Americans not only responded to the challenges before them, but also played an important role for themselves in the country, and how these struggles changed the nation.[3]

Journey Through the Exhibition

This Exhibition shows all the story in "Era of Segregation" storylines and divided in 4 categories :

Segregated drinking fountain in use in America

Creating a Segregated Society (1877–1900)

When reconstruction work ended in 1877, most African Americans lived in the South. As white Southerners regained control of state and local governments, they passed new laws to keep blacks and whites separate and condemned African Americans as inferior, restricted second-class citizens. In order to resist the influence of these laws, African Americans created communities and institutions to maintain their own, and looked for ways to protest their treatment.

Institution Building (1900–1917)

In 1903, the scholar and civil rights leader WEB Du Bois warned: "The problem of the 20th century is the problem of color lines." The solution to this problem depends largely on the control and inhumanity of people of color. Response to chemical work. Being ostracized by the larger society, African Americans protested against inequality and created institutions, businesses, organizations, and communities to meet their needs. As the African-American population increases, so does the size and influence of its organization.

The New Negro Steps Forward (1917–1945)

The experience of World War I at home and abroad changed the attitude of a generation of African Americans. They are unwilling to back down in the face of discriminatory treatment. They are more proud of their African heritage and have a stronger attitude towards resisting attacks on their civil rights. This new attitude is evident in their music, literature and other cultural expressions and their political and social activism.

Freedom Now! The Modern Civil Rights Movement (1945 – 1968)

After World War II, a generation of African Americans saw fewer and fewer reasons to endure attacks on their civil rights. At G.I. Bill, African Americans are less dependent on crop cultivation. In addition, more and more African Americans are moving to cities. They want to make changes immediately, even willing to make changes at the risk of their own security. Veterans and their generation are the key to the success of the civil rights movement that emerged after the war.[4]

Some of the most powerful artifacts in the museum are located here:

  • Emmett Till’s casket
  • Dress made by Rosa Parks
  • Prison tower from Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola
  • Segregated Southern Railway rail car from the Jim Crow era
  • Greensboro, N.C., Woolworth’s lunch-counter stools
  • House (c. 1874) built, owned, and lived in by freed slaves in Maryland[5]

Message

A statue of the former slave Clara Brown, who was born into slavery in 1800. She married and had four children, but the family was broken up and sold at auction

One of the crew of the Museum explaining that why this part of the museum is vitally important to the story of the journey of blacks for self determination, equality and freedom.

“This is the time after the Civil War, as African-Americans are trying to figure out what not being a slave means, and the nation is trying to figure out what it is going to do with all of these new citizens in terms of their treatment and their rights as citizens of the United States,”

The Crew also explain about the collection "Statue of Clara Brown", a former slave whose all her family sold at auction and also a powerful symbol of the resilience of blacks trying to find their way through the complicated maze of being free.

“After she got freedom and move to Colorado she uses part of her money to try and reconnect her family back again. Unfortunately she is only able to find one daughter who she brings out to Colorado for a while before she passes away. But it’s a wonderful story about the importance of family, but also the success of African-Americans coming out of slavery.”[6]

Incident

On Wednesday, May 31, visitors to the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC found a noose in a segregated exhibit. When the police removed the racist symbol and investigated the matter, the Smithsonian Museum confirmed that a second noose was found on a tree outside the Hirschhorn Museum. “The noose has long represented a deplorable act of cowardice and depravity—a symbol of extreme violence for African Americans. Today’s incident is a painful reminder of the challenges that African Americans continue to face,”

Because of that The NMAAHC’s exhibition “Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: Era of Segregation 1876–1968” was shut down temporarily immediately but has since reopened.[7]

External Link

See more about the exhibiton here

Reference