Inside the DuSable Museum of African American History
Inside the DuSable Museum of African American History
A discussion of the DuSable Museum of African American History (now the DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center) in Chicago, from the documentary Riches, Rivals, & Radicals: 100 Years of Museums in America.
Great Museums Television (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: Suppose there are no objects. What then?
ELAINE HEUMANN GURIAN: The history of African Americans in our country has whole chunks of their history not available in objects. Available in story form, available in memory, available in song, but not in objects.
NARRATOR: That didn't stop Margaret and Charles Burroughs from starting a black history museum in their home, just as the civil rights movement was revving up.
MARGARET BURROUGHS: In 1961, when we opened up in my living room, we started out with what we had, because my husband, Charles, and I, we had collected things from Africa. And people began to bring us things, you know, once they knew what we were trying to do. People would call me and they'd say, "You know, my—my uncle was a missionary in Liberia, and he brought back some sculptures and all. Would you like to have 'em?" Yes.
Now there are over 125 black history museums throughout the country—Detroit, New York, St. Louis, and all of those places. The fact that these things are growing and developing, it gives you a good feeling. It makes you healthier, and it keeps you younger.
LONNIE BUNCH: Margaret Burroughs clearly opened doors wide for people like me. And I know that I'm standing on those shoulders. She says, "You have to understand our story to understand your story." She recognized that what museums do, more than anything else, is they legitimize a people's culture. And if you're not there, you run the risk of being invisible.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: Suppose there are no objects. What then?
ELAINE HEUMANN GURIAN: The history of African Americans in our country has whole chunks of their history not available in objects. Available in story form, available in memory, available in song, but not in objects.
NARRATOR: That didn't stop Margaret and Charles Burroughs from starting a black history museum in their home, just as the civil rights movement was revving up.
MARGARET BURROUGHS: In 1961, when we opened up in my living room, we started out with what we had, because my husband, Charles, and I, we had collected things from Africa. And people began to bring us things, you know, once they knew what we were trying to do. People would call me and they'd say, "You know, my—my uncle was a missionary in Liberia, and he brought back some sculptures and all. Would you like to have 'em?" Yes.
Now there are over 125 black history museums throughout the country—Detroit, New York, St. Louis, and all of those places. The fact that these things are growing and developing, it gives you a good feeling. It makes you healthier, and it keeps you younger.
LONNIE BUNCH: Margaret Burroughs clearly opened doors wide for people like me. And I know that I'm standing on those shoulders. She says, "You have to understand our story to understand your story." She recognized that what museums do, more than anything else, is they legitimize a people's culture. And if you're not there, you run the risk of being invisible.
[Music out]