Welcome to ABHvM!

ABHM builds public awareness of the harmful legacies of slavery in America and promotes racial repair, reconciliation, and healing.

We envision a society that remembers its past in order to shape a better future – a nation undivided by race where every person matters equally.

This site is ABHM’s 3300+ page Virtual Museum!

Founded in 1988 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, ABHM’s building closed during the Great Recession of 2008.

A community group formed to honor the vision and mission of ABHM’s founder, Dr. James Cameron. We put its exhibits online and developed educational programming in libraries, churches, and other facilities locally, regionally, and nationally.

Now, in addition to this Virtual Museum, a new physical museum space is about to open!

There are many things you can do and learn in the 3200+ online exhibits here:

• Visit our virtual Galleries to learn about little-known parts of African American History.

• Catch up on what’s happening today in the ongoing struggle for rights and respect for African Americans.

ASSOCIATION OF AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUMS

To contact this Virtual (online) Museum, email connect@abhmuseum.org

To contact someone at our new ABHM office and physical galleries (not yet open to the public), please call (414) 209-3640 or email admin@abhmuseum.org

Juneteenth 2020 Message from ABHM’s President/CEO

America’s Black Holocaust Museum stands with the families of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and all of those whose loved ones have been violently taken from them.

The unrelenting outrage, pain, and sadness that so many of us from around the world are feeling in this moment has been long held by the black community. From centuries of chattel slavery to generations of race-based terror and lynching, through the countless racially motivated killings, this history persists today.

Despite a global pandemic, people of all ethnic groups, races, ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds gather in solidarity to bear witness and, to once and for all, denounce these horrific acts. As we continue the must needed vigilance to stay safely apart, this breach of our collective humanity has brought us together.

There have been detailed discussions regarding how preexisting health conditions make certain populations more vulnerable to viral outbreaks and how it disproportionately affects people of color. We must also focus our collective attention on the longstanding issues of discrimination, wealth inequality and the unjust disparities in employment, healthcare, housing and education.

So, now the question is, what do we do in the face of these glaring inequities? In these extremely challenging times, we look to the words of our founder, Dr. James Cameron:

“In 1930 I became sick with hatred. Hatred is a disease that eats into the core of the whole body and destroys it from within. But if you have love in your heart, you can blossom as the sun shines every day.”

Dr. Cameron, one of the only known survivors of a lynching in American history, was only 16 years old in 1930 when his life was nearly taken. He then spent the rest of his 92 years sharing his story and those of African Americans from pre-captivity to the present day. As we preserve the legacy of our founder, ABHM is poised to continue to serve as an educator and convener of these incredibly painful and difficult issues and the conversations that we must have to resolve them.

Let this be the moment when we choose unity over division, love over hate, where mutual respect, understanding and compassion guide our priorities and govern our decision-making. We are at a crossroads and it is up to all of us to decide which way we go, to decide who we become.

• Dr. Robert M. Davis, ABHM’s New President & CEO

Dr. Davis, who brings an extensive background in nonprofit museum management, education, and fundraising, begins his work for ABHM on September 3, 2019.

Dr. “Bert” Davis, who holds a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Tuskegee University, long led Milwaukee’s Zoological Society. He sits on the Boards of the Association of African American Museums (AAAM) and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM).

Read and download full press release: Press Release-New President & CEO Starts 9.3.19

Support ABHM today!

Ways you can contribute:

One-Time Gift – click here
Monthly Recurring Gift – click here
Monthly or Yearly Pledge – click here

Thank you for your help and generosity!

Four views of the new ABHM building at 401 W. North Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

ABHM will re-open soon in its new Griot Building galleries!

Visitors, Tours & Events at the New ABHM

We are NOT YET able to accept appointments for group tours in 2020. Watch this space! We will let you know when ABHM is open for individual visitors, group tours, and events.

New exhibits await you at the new ABHM galleries at 401 W. North Avenue, Milwaukee WI

For general information about the New ABHM, call (414) 209-3640 or email admin@abhmuseum.org

Why invest in this museum?

More than ever, our nation needs the healing vision of Dr. James Cameron, the museum’s founder. He dreamed of our nation as “one single and sacred nationality” and believed we could achieve a just and peaceful society through education and empathy building.

Dr. Cameron’s vision is as relevant and compelling today as it was when he survived a 1930 lynching at age sixteen. Our online and onsite galleries are spaces where visitors from around the world can experience and discuss African American history as an integral part of American history.