The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by an Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the museum has collected more than 45,000 artifacts, and nearly 300,000 individuals have become members. The museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th museum of the Smithsonian Institution.

Our Mission:

The National Museum of African American History and Culture captures and shares the unvarnished truth of African American history and culture. We connect stories, scholarship, art, and artifacts from the past and present to illuminate the contributions, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped our nation. We forge new and compelling avenues for audiences to experience the arc of living history.

There are four pillars upon which the NMAAHC stands:

1. It provides an opportunity for those who are interested in African American culture to explore and revel in this history through interactive exhibitions
2. It helps all Americans see how their stories, their histories, and their cultures are shaped and informed by global influences
3. It explores what it means to be an American and share how American values like resiliency, optimism, and spirituality are reflected in African American history and culture
4. It serves as a place of collaboration that reaches beyond Washington, D.C. to engage new audiences and to work with the myriad of museums and educational institutions that have explored and preserved this important history well before this museum was created

The Museum’s vast collection and wide variety of curatorial expertise offer a range of opportunities for students and scholars interested in pursuing research projects.

Office of Curatorial Affairs

The Office of Curatorial Affairs (OCA) guides the intellectual work of the Museum through collection research and stewardship, as well as staff expertise and scholarship. OCA is tasked with interpreting the African American experience through exhibitions, programs, and publications; collecting and caring for objects related to African American history and culture; and providing public access to the collection both online and in person.

OCA has produced numerous major, onsite exhibitions for the Special Exhibits Gallery (including “More than a Picture", "We Return Fighting", “Afrofuturism", and “In Slavery’s Wake”) as well as exhibitions in other galleries (such as “City of Hope", "Spirit in the Dark", “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.”).

Significant publications have accompanied a number of these exhibitions (“We Return Fighting: World War I and the Shaping of Modern Black Identity", "Make Good the Promises: Reclaiming Reconstruction and Its Legacies", "Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures", and “In Slavery's Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World”). The “Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap” was another major publication project headed by OCA. Other publications include further additions to the “Double Exposure” series and significant contributions by 17 members of NMAAHC staff to the book, “Smithsonian American Women.”

Since the Museum’s opening in 2016, OCA has been working to enhance the Museum’s global influence by making more resources more easily accessible through more formats than ever before.

A good example is NMAAHC's participation in the Smithsonian Open Access program, making thousands of digital images from the Museum’s collection available for the public to download, share, and reuse immediately without seeking permission.

OCA capitalized on this new opportunity by creating a variety of new digital access points: some collections focused and others presenting more interpretive narratives. Collections have been highlighted through innovative portals and pioneering collecting initiatives. Interpretive material has been creatively presented through the web-based Curator’s Chats, landing pages for new initiatives (Chez Baldwin, Many Lenses, The Freedmen’s Bureau Project), and virtual symposia (“Making African America” and “Changing the Landscape”). Most recently, the rich content found in “The Searchable Museum” demonstrates the power of transforming and enhancing onsite exhibitions into a digital format.

Research Staff

Bryant, Aaron, Curator. A.B., Duke University; M.F.A., Yale University; Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park. Research specialties: Historiography; Anthropology; Cultural Studies and Social Theory; 20th century African American Literary Criticism; Theater History and Dramaturgical Research; Social Movement Analysis; Art and 20th Century Modernism; Material Culture Theories and Methods; LGBTQ+ and Constructions of Identities; Visual Culture; Social Documentary Photography. Contact: BryantA@si.edu

Curtis, Ariana, Curator. B.A. (2002) Duke University; M.A.(2009) American University; Ph.D.(2012) American University. Research Specialties: Latino history and culture; Racial constructions in the Americas; Latino urban experiences; Blackness in the U.S., Latin America, and the Caribbean; African Diaspora; urban immigration and migration; Latin American political history; identity and policy. Contact: CurtisA@si.edu

Dees, Janet, Assistant Director of Arts. B.A., Fordham University; M.A., University of Delaware; Ph.D., University of Delaware. Research specialties: American Art; Contemporary Art; Art by African American, African diasporan, and Native American and Indigenous Artists; Artists’ Engagement with History and Archives; Artists’ Interest in Transformational Practices; Inclusive Museum Methodologies; Black Feminist Curatorial Practice. Contact: DeesJ@si.edu

Fleming, Tuliza, Interim Chief Curator of Visual Arts. B.A. (1994) Spelman College; M.A. and Ph.D. (2007) University of Maryland, College Park. Research Specialties: American art history; art by Americans of African descent. Contact: flemingt@si.edu

Gardullo, Paul, Assistant Director, History. Head, Center for the Study of Global Slavery. B.A. (1986) Rutgers University; M.A. (2001), Ph.D. (2006) George Washington University. Research specialties: African American history and culture; American social and cultural history; public history; memory; race; popular culture, photography and visual culture, folklife. Contact: GardulloP@si.edu

Gates Moresi, Michèle, Assistant Director for Collections. B.A. (1989), M.Phil. (1997), Ph.D. (2003) George Washington University. Research specialties: 19th century U.S. Social History, African American History, Material Culture Studies, Museum History, Collections Research. Contact: GatesMoresiM@si.edu

Gault, Erika, Supervisory Museum Curator and Director, Center for the Study of African American Religious Life. B.A., New York University; M.A., Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School; Ph.D., University at Buffalo. Research specialties: American Religious History; African Atlantic Religious Cultures; African American Religious History; Phenomenology of Religion; African Christianity; Religion and Material Culture; African American History; James Baldwin; Religion and Literature. Contact: GaultE@si.edu  

Gordon, Sarah, Museum Specialist, Visual Art. B.A University of Michigan; M.A. and Ph.D. Northwestern University. Research specialties: American art; History of photography; Historic and contemporary public art; New Deal murals; Washington, DC, art and artists. Contact: GordonSA@si.edu  

Hope, Jeanelle, Caterpillar Curator of Innovation & Entrepreneurship. B.A. (2012), CSU Long Beach; M.A. (2014), Syracuse University; Ph.D. (2019), University of California-Davis. Research specialties: African American social and cultural history, African American inventors, science and society, Blacks in the west, social movements, Black-Asian relations. Contact: HopeJK@si.edu

Hyppolite, Joanne, Museum Curator. B.A. University of Pennsylvania, M.A. University of California, Los Angeles, Ph.D. University of Miami. Research specialties: African American and Caribbean history, culture and literature, immigrant American community life, foodways, folklife and traditional culture. Contact: Hyppolitej@si.edu

Levingston, Brittany, Curator of Religion. B.A. in English & African American Studies (2013), Southern Methodist University; M.A. in English & African American Studies (2017), Yale University; M.Phil. in English & African American Studies (2018), Yale University; Ph.D. in English & African American Studies (2020), Yale University. Research specialties: African American Literature, African American Religion & Spirituality. Contact: LevingstonB@si.edu

Lewis, Steven, Museum Curator. B.A., Florida State University; M.A., University of Virginia; Ph.D., University of Virginia. Research specialties: 20th Century African American Music History; Early African American Music; African American Intellectual History; African American Music and Politics; Material Culture of African American Music. Contact: LewisS@si.edu

Meghelli, Samir, Museum Curator. B.A., University of Pennsylvania; M.A., Columbia University; Ph.D., Columbia University. Research Specialties: African American and African diaspora history and culture; social and political movements; public history; and oral history. Contact: MeghelliS@si.edu

Strait, Kevin M., Museum Curator. B.A. Wesleyan University; M.A. George Washington University; Ph.D. George Washington University. Research specialties: 19th and 20th century African American music, African American cultural history, African American intellectual history, American popular culture, 20th century African-American literature. Contact: straitk@si.edu

Thomas, Damion L., Supervisory Museum Curator of Sports. B.A., University of California, Los Angeles; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles. Research Specialties: African American History; Diplomatic History; Black Internationalism; 20th Century United States History; Sports History. Contact: ThomasDL@si.edu

Wilkinson, Michelle Joan, Museum Curator. B.A. (1993) Bryn Mawr College; M.A. (1997) Emory University; Ph.D. (2001) Emory University. Research specialties: contemporary black life and culture; architecture and design; poetry; art and social movements; African diaspora studies. Contact: Wilkinsonm@si.edu

Reece, Dwandalyn, Associate Director for the Humanities.  B.A. (1985) Scripps College; M.A. and Certificate in Museum Practice (1989) University of Michigan; Ph.D. (2000) New York University. Research specialties: African American music and theater, American popular entertainment, popular culture, American culture, material culture, ethnomusicology, performance studies. Contact: ReeceD@si.edu

Reeves, Teddy, Museum Curator. B.A. Hampton University, M.Div. Princeton Theological Seminary, Ph.D. Fordham University. Research specialties: Digital Black Religion; African American Religion and Spirituality; African American Christianity; Generational Theory; Millennial and Generation Z Faith and Spirituality; Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); Black Educational History and Leadership (K-12). Contact: ReevesT@si.edu

Ward, LaCharles, Supervisory Museum Curator and Director, Center for African American Media Arts. B.A., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; M.A., Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; Ph.D., Northwestern University. Research specialties: Photography, and Moving Image. Contact: WardLT@si.edu  

Affiliated Research Staff

Anderson, Renée S., Collections Manager. B.F.A. (1983) Virginia Commonwealth University, VA (Fashion Design); M.S (1997) (Clothing and Textiles-Textile Science), Ph.D. (2000) Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, VA (Clothing and Textiles-Business and Economics). Research specialties: costumes, clothing and textiles; design process; quilts. Contact: AndersonRS@si.edu

Burnside, Timothy Anne, Museum Curator (Music & Performing Arts). B.A. (2002), Lawrence University; M.A. (2014), Johns Hopkins University. Research Specialties: Contemporary Music and Performing Arts; Popular Culture; Black Women in Music; Hip-Hop Culture; Afrofuturism; Research and Interpretation of Material Culture; Innovative Curatorial Methodologies. Contact: BurnsideT@si.edu

Elliott, Mary, Museum Curator. B.B.A., Howard University; J.D., The Catholic University of America. Research specialties: American History, African American History, U.S. slavery, public history, Reconstruction, the Black Nadir, African American History of Indian Territory/Oklahoma, African American genealogy. Contact: ElliottM@si.edu

Conservation Staff

Mina, Laura, Conservator of Textiles. B.S. (2000) Northwestern University, IL (Performance Studies); M.A. (2010) Fashion Institute of Technology, NY (Fashion and Textile Studies: History, Theory, Museum Practice with a focus in Conservation). Research Specialties: History in Fashion; Poultice and Gels in Textile Cleaning; Re-Inventing Mount-making; Pest-Management in Costume collections. Contact: MinaL@si.edu

Neumann, Antje, Supervisory Conservator and Objects Conservator. B.A. (1990) Pitzer College, CA (Studio Art); M.A. (1999) Buffalo State College, NY (Advanced Certificate in Objects Conservation). Research Specialties: 19th Century French Bronze casting techniques; Moche Silversmithing techniques; Identification of Gujarat lacquer materials from India; Conservation of archaeological objects and sites. Contact: NeumannA@si.edu