Harlem Opens First Northern Civil Rights Museum
The Urban League’s new 12,000-square-foot facility in Manhattan will exhibit artifacts and oral histories from the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade through the modern era.
By Adriana Abebe ·
The National Urban League opened the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem this weekend. It is the first museum of its kind in New York City dedicated specifically to the civil rights struggles in the northern United States.
The facility occupies the Urban League’s Manhattan headquarters. It features 12,000 square feet of permanent and rotating galleries. The inaugural exhibits cover the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Great Migration, and the modern Civil Rights Movement. Organizers selected the Harlem location to place the museum near the Apollo Theater and The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Marc Morial, the Urban League’s president and CEO, explained the naming choice. "Designating this the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem anchors it to a place, and this place tells the story," Morial said. He noted that the museum aims to preserve history with all of its beauty and warts.
Jennifer Scott, the museum’s founding executive director, led the design of the permanent interactive installation. She stated that the goal is to show visitors their collective power. "History is living, it’s unfinished, and we can impact it," Scott said. The museum uses audio recordings of speeches and oral histories. Feedback walls allow guests to share personal experiences with protests or banned books.
The museum opens as the Trump administration reviews federal museum narratives. Last year, the administration ordered a review of institutions for what it called divisive, race-centered ideology. Martha Biondi, a history professor at Northwestern University, said the museum helps counter the sanitization of the past. "If America’s going to become a true multiracial democracy, we have to stop sanitizing our past and we have to tell the true stories," Biondi said.
Morial emphasized that the museum will include perspectives from people who rallied alongside African Americans in the northern fight for civil rights. He said the institution will continue to evolve its exhibitions. "This museum is not static, and we’re going to continue to evolve the exhibitions," Morial said.
The grand opening occurred on Saturday with invited elected officials and guests. Scott said the museum is just scratching the surface in uncovering local stories. She said the institution started long before the current staff and wants to continue so people feel empowered to create change.
