A People’s Journey, A Nation’s Story

Plan Your Visit

Shop the Best Designs of Our Limited-Edition Collections

Our museum is excited to offer the best of our most popular items, just in time for the holidays. This carefully curated collection includes bestsellers over the years and features a tailored selection of our most sought-after products.

Shop the Collection

New on View in the Museum

Ribbon Rack from U.S. Army Service Uniform Jacket Worn by Gen. Lloyd James Austin III, the first African American secretary of defense, is on display in the “Double Victory” exhibition.

Explore More

Our Museum Welcomes its 10 Millionth Visitor

This milestone takes place almost one week after the seventh anniversary of the museum’s grand opening on Sept. 24, 2016.

Learn More

Ruth J. Simmons Delivers 2023 NEH Jefferson Lecture

Our museum celebrates its seventh anniversary in September with a diverse set of programming and tours.

Read Story

large central vignette an African American family enjoy domestic tranquility around a "Union" stove while, immediately below, a baby symbolizing the New Year breaks the shackles of a kneeling slave. Scenes at left detail horrors associated with slavery–whipping, branding and the separation of families. At right, these are contrasted with future blessings–payment for work, public education, and enjoying one’s own home, goals that could only be realized if the Union won the war.

The Emancipation Proclamation: A Mighty Blow to Slavery

The year 2023 marks the 160th anniversary of one of the most important documents in the nation’s history, the Emancipation Proclamation.

Learn More

Early architectural model of the museum building

Our Musem Building

Learn about this historic building and its unique architectural features

Learn More

Image of Charlotte Lyons in the Ebony Test Kitchen, featured in the November 1992 issue of Ebony magazine. Lyons is shown leaning frontward over a counter

Iconic Ebony Test Kitchen Finds a Home at Our Museum

Built in 1972 as a prominent feature of the Johnson Publishing Co. building in Chicago, the Ebony Test Kitchen is where recipes were tested and prepared before they were published in Ebony magazine for home cooks around the country.

Learn More

Museum Announces New Council Chair

Dr. N. Anthony Coles will serve as Chair of the Advisory Council for the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Learn More

“Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” is Now Open

On view until March 24, 2024, the exhibition explores and reveals Afrofuturism’s historic and poignant engagement with African American history and popular culture.

Learn More

African American Flag, 1990, by David Hammons

David Hammons’ “African-American Flag” on View

One of the original five flags made in 1990 by Hammons, the artwork is currently on view in the museum’s “Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.” exhibition.

Explore More

A child wearing a mask holds a doll with a mask while sitting in The Rink at Rockefeller Center as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on August 02, 2020 in New York City.

Dolls Break Cultural and Racial Barriers

Our newest story explores how the nuanced history of Black dolls in America challenge political, cultural and racial barriers while bringing restorative joy to children during the holiday season and beyond.

Read Story

What's Happening at the Museum

A look at all the upcoming programs and events

Join Us!

Portrait of army nurses at Tuskegee Army Air Field.

Victory at Home and Abroad

African American Army Nurses in World War II

Explore the groundbreaking service of the Black women who fought for a double victory against fascism abroad and equal rights at home.

Explore More

Food as Culture and Celebration

Black Foodways and Cuisine

Africans transported to the Americas, as part of the transatlantic trade, brought with them planting and cooking techniques, as well as memories of ancestral and regional recipes.

Read Story