The Museum on the Web is the online experience of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture. With the help of a $1 million grant of technology and expertise from IBM, the NMAAHC Museum on the Web represents a unique partnership to use innovative IBM expertise and services to bring the stories of African American History to a global audience. Conceived from the very beginning as a fully virtual precursor to the museum to be built on the Washington Mall, this is the first time a major museum is opening its doors on the Web prior to its physical existence.

The centerpiece of the NMAAHC Museum on the Web are the collected reminiscences of ordinary Americans. These stories, called "memories" are collected as text, images, and audio uploads in the virtual Memory Book where website visitors are encouraged to submit their own histories, traditions, thoughts and ideas. Memories are then associated visually with other aspects of the museum's holdings and scholarship, such as photographic portraits from the Let Your Motto Be Resistance traveling exhibit or the Save Our African American Treasures program. Memory Book contributions may also be associated with offerings from other visitors, enabling the creation of a dynamic social network for the NMAAHC community.

The Museum on the Web establishes the NMAAHC as museum for its visitors and by its visitors, open for the enjoyment and education of all, well in advance of its opening on the Mall.