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Anacostia Community Museum
The Anacostia Community Museum (known colloquially as the ACM) is a community museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is one of twenty museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution and was the first federally funded community museum in the United States. The museum, founded in 1967, was created with the intention to bring aspects of the Smithsonian museums, located on the National Mall, to the Anacostia neighborhood, with the hope that community members from the neighborhood would visit the main Smithsonian museums. It became federally funded in 1970 and focuses on the community in and around Anacostia in its exhibitions. This museum also houses a library.
In 2025, President Donald Trump proposed a federal budget that would discontinue funding for the institution. The amount would equal 60% of the museum's total budget and its proposed withdrawal threatens the continuity of the institution.
The Anacostia Community Museum was originally described as "an experimental store-front museum" by the Smithsonian Institution in 1966. Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley intended for the museum to serve as an outreach opportunity to bring more African Americans to the National Mall to visit Smithsonian museums. The idea, which rose from a Smithsonian-hosted conference in 1966, came into reality in March 1967, when the Smithsonian acquired the Carver Theater in the Anacostia neighborhood. The Smithsonian sought community support, and a council of local Anacostia residents came together to advise on the project. John Kinard was appointed director of the museum in June 1967. A pastor and activist during the Civil Rights Movement, Kinard was heavily involved in the Anacostia neighborhood, and he made sure that the young people of the neighborhood were involved in the creation of the museum. Every week, the museum's Neighborhood Advisory Committee of community members would meet to help plan the programming and exhibitions. Staff and community members worked side by side to change the building from a defunct movie theater into an exhibition space. The community also assisted in choosing what objects would be displayed.
The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum opened on September 15, 1967. The museum had eight staff members, and only one was permanent. There were no curators or researchers or librarians. A life-size fiberglass model of a Triceratops, which in 1968 would appear as "Uncle Beazley" in the children's television movie, The Enormous Egg, and which is now near Lemur Island in the National Zoological Park (the National Zoo), attended the museum's opening.
In 1968, the museum hired a staff photographer and a photography lab was opened on site. The museum would not become part of the Smithsonian Institution's federal budget until 1970. That year, the Anacostia Research Center was founded, with funding from the Carnegie Corporation, to create an oral history program. The museum hired its first historian, Louise Daniel Hutchinson, in 1971. By 1972, the museum had ten full-time, permanent staff members, working within three departments: director's office, education, and a research and exhibitions department. The museum found it challenging to incorporate the community into its planning processes as it grew larger, and more developed processes formed to incorporate the community into exhibits. The Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which consisted of ninety people, was cut down in size and renamed the Board of Directors.
The Exhibits Design and Production Laboratory, located at Fort Stanton (Washington, D.C.), was opened in October 1974. It was there where preparations for a new museum building took place. In 1976, it suffered a fire after masonite sheets fell from a forklift, and into a container of lacquer thinner. Staff were unable to call for help due to the fire damaging the phone lines. The damage cost approximately $75,000 and no one was injured. The museum became the first Smithsonian museum to use labels for the hearing impaired in their exhibitions, in 1980. An archives devoted to the area of Anacostia was created in 1977.
The new Anacostia Museum was opened on May 17, 1987, located at Fort Stanton. The name change stemmed from the change in the museum's mission, to celebrate African American history not only in Anacostia, but around the world. Long-time director John Kinard died in 1989.
Steven Newsome, a professional librarian, became the new museum director in 1991, the same year the museum established its own library. The museum went through another name change, in 1995, becoming the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture. Its intent was to serve as the location for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. During Newsome's tenure the museum underwent an $8.5 million renovation. In 2004 Newsome retired, with James Early becoming acting director. Once more, the museum decided to change its mission, to focus specifically on Anacostia communities, and changed its name to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2006. That year, Camille Akeju became the director.
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Anacostia Community Museum
The Anacostia Community Museum (known colloquially as the ACM) is a community museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is one of twenty museums under the umbrella of the Smithsonian Institution and was the first federally funded community museum in the United States. The museum, founded in 1967, was created with the intention to bring aspects of the Smithsonian museums, located on the National Mall, to the Anacostia neighborhood, with the hope that community members from the neighborhood would visit the main Smithsonian museums. It became federally funded in 1970 and focuses on the community in and around Anacostia in its exhibitions. This museum also houses a library.
In 2025, President Donald Trump proposed a federal budget that would discontinue funding for the institution. The amount would equal 60% of the museum's total budget and its proposed withdrawal threatens the continuity of the institution.
The Anacostia Community Museum was originally described as "an experimental store-front museum" by the Smithsonian Institution in 1966. Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley intended for the museum to serve as an outreach opportunity to bring more African Americans to the National Mall to visit Smithsonian museums. The idea, which rose from a Smithsonian-hosted conference in 1966, came into reality in March 1967, when the Smithsonian acquired the Carver Theater in the Anacostia neighborhood. The Smithsonian sought community support, and a council of local Anacostia residents came together to advise on the project. John Kinard was appointed director of the museum in June 1967. A pastor and activist during the Civil Rights Movement, Kinard was heavily involved in the Anacostia neighborhood, and he made sure that the young people of the neighborhood were involved in the creation of the museum. Every week, the museum's Neighborhood Advisory Committee of community members would meet to help plan the programming and exhibitions. Staff and community members worked side by side to change the building from a defunct movie theater into an exhibition space. The community also assisted in choosing what objects would be displayed.
The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum opened on September 15, 1967. The museum had eight staff members, and only one was permanent. There were no curators or researchers or librarians. A life-size fiberglass model of a Triceratops, which in 1968 would appear as "Uncle Beazley" in the children's television movie, The Enormous Egg, and which is now near Lemur Island in the National Zoological Park (the National Zoo), attended the museum's opening.
In 1968, the museum hired a staff photographer and a photography lab was opened on site. The museum would not become part of the Smithsonian Institution's federal budget until 1970. That year, the Anacostia Research Center was founded, with funding from the Carnegie Corporation, to create an oral history program. The museum hired its first historian, Louise Daniel Hutchinson, in 1971. By 1972, the museum had ten full-time, permanent staff members, working within three departments: director's office, education, and a research and exhibitions department. The museum found it challenging to incorporate the community into its planning processes as it grew larger, and more developed processes formed to incorporate the community into exhibits. The Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which consisted of ninety people, was cut down in size and renamed the Board of Directors.
The Exhibits Design and Production Laboratory, located at Fort Stanton (Washington, D.C.), was opened in October 1974. It was there where preparations for a new museum building took place. In 1976, it suffered a fire after masonite sheets fell from a forklift, and into a container of lacquer thinner. Staff were unable to call for help due to the fire damaging the phone lines. The damage cost approximately $75,000 and no one was injured. The museum became the first Smithsonian museum to use labels for the hearing impaired in their exhibitions, in 1980. An archives devoted to the area of Anacostia was created in 1977.
The new Anacostia Museum was opened on May 17, 1987, located at Fort Stanton. The name change stemmed from the change in the museum's mission, to celebrate African American history not only in Anacostia, but around the world. Long-time director John Kinard died in 1989.
Steven Newsome, a professional librarian, became the new museum director in 1991, the same year the museum established its own library. The museum went through another name change, in 1995, becoming the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture. Its intent was to serve as the location for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. During Newsome's tenure the museum underwent an $8.5 million renovation. In 2004 Newsome retired, with James Early becoming acting director. Once more, the museum decided to change its mission, to focus specifically on Anacostia communities, and changed its name to the Anacostia Community Museum in 2006. That year, Camille Akeju became the director.
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