Last updated: 5/20/2011
523 Harrison Avenue, NW
Roanoke, VA 24026-1740
P.O. Box 12544
Roanoke, VA 24026
Free admission. Donations accepted.
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Ms. Aletha Bolden
phone:
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Wanda Alston
phone: 540-345-4818
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Located in a Nationally Registered historic landmark, the museum is the site of the first African American high school in Southwestern Virginia. Exhibits and celebrates African American culture and heritage in Southwest Virginia. Meeting facilities available, gift shop on site.
The Harrison Museum of African American Culture is located on the ground floor of Harrison School, the first public high school built in 1916 for African-American students. Due to its important and long-lasting role in the history of the African-American community in the Roanoke Valley, Harrison School is designated as a Virginia Historic Landmark. The renovation of Harrison School and the establishment of a museum and cultural center was a project initiated by the Northwest Neighborhood Improvement Council, Inc. and Total Action Against Poverty in Roanoke Valley, Inc. Memorabilia, photographs and objects relating to the African-American experience in the Roanoke Valley form an extensive portion of the Harrison Museum Permanent Collection. Oral stories and recollections as told by elders highlight the culture and significance of the valley's black communities. These oral histories enhance the materials found in the Museum's archives. In addition, African and contemporary art are an integral part of the permanent collection. The annual Henry Street Heritage Festival is sponsored by Harrison Museum on the last Saturday in September to recognize and celebrate the rich culture and heritage of people of African descent.
Since the opening in 1985, the Harrison Museum of African American Culture has offered historical and art exhibitions in its galleries and in the Hazel B. Thompson Exhibition Room. Thanks to the generosity of several donors, the Harrison Museum owns an impressive collection of African masks, bronze sculptures, paintings, furniture, jewelry and textiles from Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, Liberia, Rwanda, Zaire and South Africa. Also donated in the museum's permanent local collection, which has grown from a few objects to several thousand, are medical, educational and political memorabilia, as well as visual art.
The Harrison Museum of African American Culture is a private, not-for-profit organization established in 1985. The Museum is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of local and regional members of the Roanoke Valley, and meets monthly throughout the calendar year. Officer positions on the board include President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary.
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