ABSTRACT

As the United States and other nations become more racially and ethnically diverse, it becomes increasingly important to understand the meanings and motivations that underlie the patronage of various types of supporters. Drawing on in-depth interviews with trustees and other patrons of African American museums, as well as archival records and firsthand observations, this chapter compares how black and white patrons define the racial and ethnic value of black museums. It elaborates how patrons often see black museums as having dual identities—one black and the other American. Indeed, it is not uncommon for patrons of all races to use phrases along the lines of “African American history is American history” or “African American culture is American culture” to describe why African American museums should be broadly supported. However, while blacks and whites alike generally embrace a vision of black museums as both “African American” and “all-American,” black supporters often have a heightened awareness of their relevance for the black community, and white supporters often have a particular sensitivity to their significance for whites. This chapter centers on the African American/all-American duality, but the last section also introduces a further distinction: the African American museum as African American versus African diasporic. It documents how first- and second-generation supporters of African descent often place particular emphasis on the latter.