African American Museum in Philadelphia

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is notable as the first museum funded and built by a municipality to help preserve, interpret and exhibit the heritage of African Americans. Opened during the 1976 Bicentennial celebrations, the AAMP is located in historic Philadelphia, a few blocks away from the Liberty Bell.

AAMP currently houses four galleries and an auditorium, each of which offers exhibitions anchored on one of three dominant themes: The African Diaspora, the Philadelphia Story, and the Contemporary Narrative.

The Museum is home to more than 750,000 objects, images and documents that are made available for research, exhibitions, for loan to other museums, and used in the Museum’s many educational programs. Temporary exhibits, as well as a variety of family events, workshops, films, tours, symposiums, and concerts relating to African-American culture and history are offered.

The AAMP’s collection is composed of flyers, memos and memorabilia related to the Philadelphia Black Panthers, correspondence clippings and military artifacts of the first black doctor to direct a U.S. Army Hospital, academic and legal papers from Harry Shapiro on constitutional issues arising from the civil rights movement, African American occupational and domestic objects, family scrapbooks, sports memorabilia, church and burial records, artifacts from the Ku Klux Klan, and much more. Refer to the museums website for a complete listing.

Exhibitions and events

Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776 - 1876

Permanent exhibition

On June 19, 2009, The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) unveiled its new core exhibition Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776 - 1876, presented by PECO. Its primary...

Free to Be

Permanent exhibition

This year, as the African American Museum in Philadelphia celebrates its 35th anniversary, we are proud to present Free to Be: The Artistry & Impact of African Americans in Paris, 1900 – 1940, one...