Sep

Celebrate 50 years of service at the Anacostia Community Museum

Smithsonian staff and volunteers are invited to celebrate 50 years of the Anacostia Community Museum at their open house Friday, Sept. 15. ACM staff would like to welcome their colleagues from other parts of the Smithsonian with a special meet and greet at 11 a.m., followed by light refreshments.

The Anacostia Historical Society in front of the Carver Theater which served as the first home for the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, 1967.

The Open House will feature dance performances by Zezeh Brazilian Dancers, Chum Ngek (Cambodian dance and music), and Capital Movement Inc. Dance Group; musical performances from Clifton Ross, Brent from Brent & Co., JoGo Project and the Garfield Elementary School Band; henna and caricature artists; and a program honoring the museum’s founding director, John Kinard. Staff also can see the museum’s new exhibition “Your Community, Your Story: Celebrating Five Decades of the Anacostia Community Museum, 1967–2017.”

ACM will provide round-trip bus transportation for Smithsonian staff, volunteers, and interns.

SCHEDULE:

10:30 a.m.—Board bus at Smithsonian Castle
1000 Jefferson Drive, S.W., Washington, D.C.

10:45 a.m.—Depart Smithsonian Castle

11 a.m.—Arrive at the Anacostia Community Museum

1 p.m.—Depart from Anacostia Community Museum

1:20 p.m.—Return to the Smithsonian Castle

In addition, the Museum Support Center Shuttle will be operating on its normal schedule. Important Note: When departing from the Mall, please inform the shuttle driver that you would like to go to the Anacostia Community Museum. To reserve a return trip, please call Transportation at (301) 238-2045 45 no later than 45 minutes before the scheduled shuttle departure time from the Museum Support Center.

More information about SI shuttle schedules is available on Prism. For information about the shuttle to the Anacostia Community Museum, look under the Museum Support Center Shuttle Service schedule.

The Anacostia Community Museum was founded in 1967 as an initiative to bring national culture into a local, inner-city environment. Under John Kinard, the museum’s founding director, its mission changed, and it became a place for people in an urban neighborhood to voice their concerns about city life and examine their roles in society. The museum served as a safe space for encouraging local forms of cultural expression.

Today, the museum explores social issues affecting diverse populations of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to promote mutual understanding and strengthen community bonds. The museum’s work focuses on the arts, environment, community history and urban studies, and researching, interpreting and sharing the stories of diverse communities.

Two young people with Afros wearing YAC tshirts

Anacostia Neighborhood Museum Youth Advisory Council:
Under the leadership of Zora Martin Felton, director of education and chief advisor, the museum’s Youth Advisory Council was developed in 1967 to engage young people in the work of the museum and the community. Council members participated in all museum activities and created an intensive African American heritage and community service program with museum staff. (Courtesy Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution)

UPDATE Sept. 29

Thank you to everyone who came to the Anacostia Community Museum Open House on September 15. We welcomed 1,149 staff and visitors and we really had a great time! The performances and public participation that day were the perfect way to mark our 50th anniversary.

—Lori Yarrish, Director, Anacostia Community Museum