African American Museum of Iowa
55 12th Ave. SE
Cedar Rapids, IA 52406

Web Site:

www.blackiowa.org

Email:

lkoos@blackiowa.org

Region:

East

County:

Linn

Phone:

(319) 862-2101

Fax:

(319) 862-2105

Admission:

$5.00-Adults, $4.00-Senior Citizens, $2.50-Students and Children

Hours:

10:00am-4:00pm Monday-Saturday

Features:

The Museum features over 4,000 square feet of gallery space which houses a magnificent permenant exhibit as well as two changing exhibits each year. The Museum also offers private rental facilities accomodating up to 240 people.

Come see our new permenant exhibit, Endless Possibilities! School tours and group tours are available.

Visitors begin the exhibit experience in the beauty and diversity of West Africa, then continue through enslavement and the torturous Middle Passage, in which millions of African captives were shipped in chains to the New World. You then experience the desperate flight of freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad in Iowa, and share the trials and triumph of the Civil War and the end of slavery. You can join the struggle for integration in Iowa’s schools and workplaces, and see the tools and toys of African American mining families in turn-of-the-century Buxton. Next you can participate in a sit-in at the lunch counter of the Katz Drug Store in Des Moines and sign a petition demanding that the store’s owner respect everyone’s civil rights. Take time to honor heroes of the Civil Rights Movement in Iowa, including Charles Toney of Davenport, Viola Gibson of Cedar Rapids, and Virginia Harper of Ft. Madison, and then listen to the voices of modern history makers as they speak about their lives in Iowa. Finally, you can stand behind President Barack Obama’s podium to celebrate his victory at the 2008 Iowa caucuses, and look forward to endless possibilities for Iowa’s African Americans.

Join us May 15th for the Grand Opening of Our Sister's Many Hats, an exhibit about the remarkable progress made by African American women.