As featured in May 1997
A Seat of Knowledge
Detroit's Museum of African American History is the largest such showcase ever built
By Jill Day-Foley
It was born of humble beginnings. It survived and thrived in times of booming cultural awareness as well as state and federal cuts in funding for the arts. And in April, Detroit's Museum of African American History (MAAH) became the latest jewel in the crowning glory of the Motor City's rebirth.
Nestled in the midst of the Cultural Center, the Museum of African American History, with its 120,000 square feet, is the largest facility of its kind ever built. It
is also ready to take the lead as a focal point for African-American history research. From the multifaceted top of the 100-foot diameter glass dome which looms 55 feet over the museum's rotunda to the 317-seat theater, the $34 million dollar MAAH offers an experience from which all cultures can draw upon.
"Detroit's Museum of African American History is destined to become a national treasure," says Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer at the museum's gala opening in April. "The Museum of African American History belongs to you. Put your arms around it. Don't let it go," he added. The mayor addressed a crowd of 2,500 who braved the unseasonable cold and plunked down $150 each for the grand opening. For the next 24 hours, thousands of visitors took advantage of the free, open-all-night gala and kept volunteers hopping around the clock.
Leaning heavily on its African heritage, the MAAH's design teems with symbolism. Harold Varner, a partner with Sims-Varner & Associates and the project's lead architect explained that the dome's design is based on "African structures," pointing out that the mix of clear and reflective glass panels will ideally allow tourists to view the sky and earth simultaneously. The design is a series of huts clustered together in an African village.
"The building expression was conceived as contemporary American yet expressing antecedents leading back to Africa," says Varner, adding that the building's sculptural columns are based on a traditional African rope motif as well as the feature stones around the exterior being sculpted in traditional African forms. The design weds African and American forms with a flexible functionality for the museum's exhibits, he explains.
Detroit-based artisan Richard Bennett designed two 250-pound African masks which stand sentinel over the entrance doors. Bennett, renown for his sculpture and furniture designs, fashioned the masks from powder-coated aluminum and gold-plated stainless steel. Installed over the bronze main entrance doors, also created by Bennett, the eye-catching works welcome visitors to the museum.
"The mask and doors are very significant," says Bennett. "It was very important for me that the design exude strength, pride, quality, and uniqueness. After all, I represent a people who first walked the earth and introduced culture and civilization to the western world." Choosing materials native to Africa - brass, bronze, mahogany, and marble - Bennett also designed the doors for the entrances to the MAAH's theater, board room, and multipurpose room.
The rotunda itself is a masterpiece of experiencing African-American culture. Flags of the African diaspora adorn the terrazzo. Brass plates circle the floor featuring a variety of names from black history. Detroit artist Hubert Masseyıs "Genealogy," a colorful terrazzo, covers most of the rotunda floor. The figure represents the struggle of the African-American experience, from enslavement and the Middle Passage to today's urban violence. "Genealogy" symbolically depicts the struggle for upward mobility, thirst for knowledge, and importance of spirituality in the history of black Americans.
"This project has given me the opportunity to give back to the community to inspire youth and their creativity," says Massey, an art instructor at Detroit's Paul Robeson Academy. "I want people to see the design and realize the importance of never forgetting the past while always looking ahead to the future."
Leaving the rotunda, young and old alike are impressed by the 16,000-square foot gallery which houses "Of the People: The African-American Experience," the nation's largest black history exhibition. Composed of eight "stations" - African Memory, the Crime, Survival of the Spirit; the Imperfect Union; Freedom and Betrayal; Urban Struggle/Urban Splendor; the Struggle for Empowerment; and Becoming the Future - the core exhibit is a myriad of images and quotes, maps, photographs, sound, and reproduction.
Dorita Smith, educational outreach coordinator, recommends that children (third grade or younger) focus on the exhibits about African Memory, Middle Passage, Underground Railroad, and Becoming the Future. Included among the highlights are African-American inventions and achievements, displays on the Jim Crow era, routes of the Underground Railroad (Detroit was a major depot), and displays examining the Million Man March, current black leaders, and African influence on the English language.
One of the most moving exhibits is the re-creation of a slave ship, complete with sculptures of captured Africans. The creation of Detroit artists Donald Calloway and Lavern Homan, the Tight Pack Figure Casting Project used 50 Detroit-area students as models for the body casts and placed them in a 50-foot replica of a slave ship hold. Standing on the open grating, one can see the shackled slaves languishing below. Wooden panels inscribed with more than 2,500 names of ships of the slave trade complete the illusion of a ship. The slave trade was one of the great crimes against humanity.
"Being able to work on a project of such magnitude was an honor and privilege," says Calloway, an artisan specializing in oil paintings. "This was a chance to be a part of history. The story of African-American people is being told and I had a chance to help tell the story."
Homan, a jewelry designer, found working on the project more emotionally involved than she had anticipated. "As a model for the figure casting, there was some discomfort during the process but I reminded myself that what I went through was nothing compared to what our ancestors experienced going through the Middle Passage," she says.
For those planning a trip to Motown, a visit to the MAAH at 315 E. Warren Avenue is a must. Dress comfortable and block out some time as this is not a cultural quickie stop. Museum staff have gone to great lengths to make the facility as creative and fun-filled as possible and, most importantly, a place to learn.
State-of-the-art describes the two sound rooms where visitors listen to black literary or musical samples. Windows allow listeners to take in sights of the core exhibit. Also, flanking the core exhibit are two smaller galleries which will house touring exhibits, including "Africa: One Continent, Many Worlds," which runs from June 7 to September 7, 1997, followed by "Sacred Arts of Haitian Vodou" running from October 10 to December 21, 1997.
The 317-seat theater, located on the first floor, offers more intimacy than a more formal performance space. A children's film series, theater, storytelling, puppet shows, and dance are a few of the activities scheduled. Three classrooms located on the lower level will host low-cost, drop-in, weekend workshops on doll-making, music, gourd, quilting, and jewelry-making. The MAAH's research library is a rich source of information on nearly every facet of the African-American experience. Out-of-towners should note that library use is by appointment only.
The new home for the museum is the third incarnation of the museum founded in 1965 by the Motor City's Dr. Charles Wright, a noted obstetrician/ gynecologist, author, and black historian. Originally the International Afro-American Museum, the facility was located in two homes near Motown's first home and was primarily a grassroots effort to promote literacy and positive self-images for city youth.
In 1983, plans were underway to build a new home for the museum, which had outgrown its home as cultural awareness events increased during the early 1980s. By 1987, the newly-christened MAAH moved into a 28,000-square-foot facility within a few blocks of its current home.
Encumbered by an odd, trapezoid shape and a lack of space, plans were made for a new facility almost as soon as the grand opening for the 1987 museum was being held. The current MAAH broke ground in 1993, financed with bonds approved on two occasions by Detroit voters. Museum staff have pulled out all the stops to boost attendance from 70,000 in 1996 to the goal of 500,000 for the new MAAH's first full year of operation.
Although there are several challenges to be faced - a projected $6.8 million budget which is more than five times the budget in the previous facility, for example - optimism is plentiful. "I think its phenomenal what's been accomplished from the museum's beginning to its magnificent new home. It's special," S. Dolores Allison, a native Detroiter observes.
"We intend to do all of you proud," said Kimberly Camp, the museum's president, who came aboard in January 1994. "This is just the starting point."
(Museum Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Information: 1-313-494-5800 anytime. Internet Address: www.detnews.com/maah.
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