Museums have always taken us places we may never have gone otherwise, from the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C. to the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach, California.
However, three new museums lean even more into diverse experiences, taking a deep dive into a particular cultural perspective, shining a bright light on changemakers and creating meaningful experiences for peoples of all origins and backgrounds along the way.
National Museum of African American Music – Nashville, Tennessee
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Opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2021, this vast museum came together over 22 years with $60 million behind it. With a collection of more than 1,600 artifacts, the experience starts with the interactive Rivers of Rhythm corridor, with its animated timeline linking American history with its music. The 56,000-square-foot museum houses six interactive sections that embrace 50 genres of music with a focus on blues, jazz, gospel, R&B and hip-hop.
Geared towards honoring and preserving the legacy of everyday music makers, in addition to well-known Black artists, there are personal items from Ella Fitzgerald, Whitney Houston, Duke Ellington, George Clinton and TLC on display.
Although not considered a hotbed of Black music, Nashville has its share of history, including the trailblazing a cappella group the Fisk Jubilee Singers, founded in 1871. The Singers traveled around the U.S. and Europe singing spirituals written by enslaved musicians before the likes of Queen Victoria and Mark Twain.
Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience – New Orleans, Louisiana
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The Southern Jewish experience occupies a unique placement in American culture. The newly opened Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans looks at patterns of immigration and commerce, including slave ownership and the bonds of friendship between Jews and Gentiles in the South. From the earliest pushcarts to family-owned stores and businesses, Jews were a driver in commerce in places like Richmond, Charleston, New Orleans and Savannah.
Learn about the basic tenets of the faith through creative tableaus and some 4,000 artifacts. There’s an engaging “Ask Bubbe” touchscreen to test your knowledge of Yiddish words such as “schlep” and “kvetch,” as well as a beautiful collection of stained glass windows inspired by synagogues throughout the South. The strong connection between Jewish and Black communities in the South can be observed in exhibitions about Jewish professors at Historic Black Colleges and Jewish leaders in the Civil Rights Movement.
Because the museum is in New Orleans, of course there’s a nod to Mardi Gras, which for many years was run by krewes who barred both Black and Jewish people from riding. In 1996, Krewe du Jieux was formed, followed by Krewe du Mishigas; both satirical groups walk in the amusing Krewe du Vieux Carnival Parade that happens a few weeks before Mardi Gras day.
Harriet Tubman Museum – Cape May, New Jersey
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Harriet Tubman, the famed American abolitionist who was born into slavery, rescued at least 70 enslaved people by following the Underground Railroad. Tubman funded her missions by working as a cook, which she did for multiple summers in Cape May, New Jersey, a pretty Victorian town along the Jersey shore.
A new museum pays homage to her work and illuminates the importance of the role Cape May played in the fight against slavery. The museum, set in the former Macedonia Baptist Church, is on the corner of Lafayette Street and Franklin Street, a center of abolitionist activity in the 1840s.
Across the street, the Stephen Smith House was the summer home for the founder of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society. Next door, The Banneker House was one of the only summer resorts for free Black people in the country.
Tour the pocket museum for personal insights into Tubman’s extraordinary life. The museum’s mission is one of inclusion and outreach, coordinating with schools around the country to expand school curricula, explore under-represented history and promote diversity and inclusion in the classroom.
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