Thanks to Hollywood’s portrayal of the story behind the landmark case, people worldwide may know the name “Amistad” and how enslaved Africans on a ship bearing that name worked with abolitionists to win their freedom once they arrived in the United States. That, however, is only one of the amazing stories visitors can find at the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
The Fannie Lou Hamer Papers is one of the center’s foundational civil rights-era collections. The papers document this advocate and activist’s personal life growing up and sharecropping in Mississippi, as well as her incredible work to pursue civil rights, voting rights, and economic self-sufficiency in the segregated South. The collection also includes records of many organizations to which Hamer was attached, such as the Freedom Farm Cooperative that she founded with $10,000 in 1969.

Ten years ago, St. Louis County Library was a traditional public library that focused on literacy and computer resources. However, about eight years ago, a study was published about the social determinants of health in the St. Louis region. The library staff understood the impact on their patrons and that these factors were not only holding back a community population, but an entire region. They responded.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
The library’s Tap In Center is an innovative program to support people who are involved in the criminal justice system. Often, people have warrants for failing to appear in court—which can result from administrative errors like wrong addresses or simply not having access to technology. Many times these individuals don’t even know about the warrants, which stack up quickly. In September 2020, the library worked with the Missouri Public Defender’s Office, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, The Bail Project, and other organizations to help individuals navigate the justice system. The Tap In Center has helped resolve more than 300 warrants.

Chartered in 1788, Delaware’s Wilmington Library started as a subscription library for educated, wealthy, White men. In today’s mostly Black Wilmington, it is a culture hub that brings inner-city and suburban residents together with cool live and virtual celebrity conversations, takes innovative reading strategies to the streets, and attracts new library and downtown investment.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
To reach young Black readers, the library leveraged the Barbershop Books Initiative—started in 2013 by Alvin Irby. These are essentially pop-up libraries in barbershops, where boys go often and feel at ease. As they wait for their haircuts, they can access materials and engage in reading in their neighborhoods. Combining books with getting a “fresh cut” is having an impact on kids as they lay down their phones and pick up a book. Likewise, barbers have become strong literacy and library advocates. This kind of street power can sustain library efforts for the long game. New partners, political clout, and financial resources amplify these effective library efforts.

When you walk into the Asheville Art Museum’s atrium, you’re surrounded by an installation of powerful artworks encompassing elements that set the tone for your experience. Always intentional about their framing, the community-based educational institution collects, preserves, and interprets artworks of Southern Appalachia and the Southeast in the context of American art history, which makes their collections and interpretation both place- and person-centered.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
This summer—much to the excitement of staff—the museum is hosting weekly in-person summer camp sessions for grades K–12. In North Carolina, where art education in school systems is underfunded, the summer camp provides opportunities for real, in-depth experimentation of ideas and hands-on learning. It also allows working artists the chance to teach classes and draw inspiration of their own from working closely with the students.

Located on the land of the Coast Salish Peoples, the Burke Museum cares for and shares natural and cultural collections so all people can learn, be inspired, generate knowledge, feel joy, and heal. Through collaborative work and partnerships with institutions, communities, and people around the world, the Burke Museum contextualizes what’s happening in our world and inspires people to value their connections with all life—and act to create positive change in the future.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
In 2015, Burke volunteer paleontologists on a dig in Montana discovered a 100% complete T. rex skull, one of only 15 in the world! Protected in a plaster “jacket,” the “Tufts-Love” T. rex was brought to the Burke, where the Inside-Out approach offered visitors the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see fossil preparators excavate the past in real time. Today, the T. rex enjoys engaging with guests in the Burke’s Fossils Uncovered gallery.

In the heart of this city of more than 400,000—so diverse there is no racial or ethnic majority—the Oakland Museum of California is designed first and foremost for its local visitors. Known as OMCA, the museum channels its city’s fierce civic pride to show the diverse pieces and people that make California so special.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
In 2016, OMCA opened “All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50” to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panthers in Oakland. Many of the founders of the organization participated, relaying their stories and struggles in a deep and intensely personal way. The community responded in amazing ways; multiple generations of families came to experience the exhibit and learn the real story of the Black Panthers, making connections to current movements like Black Lives Matter.