A Different World, a spinoff of The Cosby Show, aired on NBC from 1987 to 1993. Inspired by the student life at HBCUs, the series was set at Hillman College, a fictional historically black college in Virginia, and was built around The Cosby Show’s second oldest daughter, Denise Huxtable. The pilot episode on Sept. 24, 1987, was reportedly the highest-rated TV pilot in history.

Some cast members of the popular show toured some of the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities in early 2024. The 2024 HBCU college tour kicked off in February at the Atlanta University Center, home to Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Clark Atlanta University. The cast visited Howard University on April 9, 2024. While in the nation’s capital, the cast toured the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Tour sponsors included Student Freedom Initiative, a D.C.-based nonprofit spearheaded by philanthropist Robert F. Smith that alleviates debt burdens of students attending HBCUs and other minority serving institutions (MSIs), and New York-based college access nonprofit Minds Matter.  In 2016, the billionaire tech executive donated $20 million to the museum, supporting its digitization program as well as community outreach and curatorial initiatives.

Edwina Dei-Davis was among the guests who attended the private tour. Dei-Davis lives in Ontario; she was raised in Montreal, Quebec. This was her first time visiting the museum. Dei-Davis owns House of Davis by ADE, a food, beauty and lifestyle company.

Visitor Voices

In 2022, the museum celebrated its sixth anniversary with a series of programming including the relaunch of the “Living History Community Curation” program, presented by the museum’s Robert F. Smith Family History Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History.

Through the series, “Visitor Voices,” visitors recorded their stories in reflection booths located in the history galleries. The series allowed audiences to share aspects of their visit— empowering them to see themselves as a part of the museum’s history and community.

The public can watch the series here as 30 voices share their stories over the course of 30 days.