March 6, 2026
Five taking part HBCUs have contributed to the exhibit: Jackson State University, Florida A&M University, Tuskegee University, Clark Atlanta University and Texas Southern University.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture has opened an exhibition that explores the cultural and historic affect of traditionally Black schools and universities (HBCUs) by artifacts preserved by HBCU archives and museums.
The exhibition, “At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs,” opened Jan. 16 on the museum on the National Mall and can run by July 19. “At the Vanguard” was developed by the museum’s History and Culture Access Consortium.
Five taking part universities have contributed to the exhibit: Jackson State University, Florida A&M University, Tuskegee University, Clark Atlanta University, and Texas Southern University. Together, the HBCUs lent more than 100 artifacts and archival supplies that doc the educational, inventive, and political contributions of HBCU communities throughout generations.
According to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, the challenge emphasizes the work of HBCU archivists and historians who had the foresight to safeguard supplies that may in any other case have been misplaced to historical past.
Curators Joanne Hyppolite, Tulani Salahu-Din, and Jeanelle Hope have taken up the mantle of telling HBCU tales because the establishments themselves have lengthy preserved Black historic supplies and narratives. By bringing artifacts from a number of HBCU collections collectively in a single exhibition, organizers intention as an example the central position these colleges have performed in documenting African American mental and cultural life.
Items related to Florida A&M University’s “Marching 100” band appear alongside photographs and archival recordings that doc the cultural influence of HBCU band tradition in American music and collegiate marching traditions.
After its run in Washington, organizers plan for the exhibition to journey to companion establishments and extra venues, extending entry to supplies that replicate the enduring academic and cultural influence of HBCUs.
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