740 East 56th Place (in Washington Park)
773-947-0600
Web Site: www.dusablemuseum.org


Named for Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable, a Black fur trader and the first outsider to settle in the 1770s in what later became the Chicago-area, the  DuSable Museum of African-American History is said to be among the country's 10 most notable collections of paintings, drawings, and sculpture by African-American artists.

The museum traces its roots back to 1961, when Dr. Margaret Goss Burroughs founded it in her home with a ten-dollar charter. (Dr. Burroughs also is credited with having established, along with the help of others, the Negro Museum and Historical Foundation in the 1940s and the National Conference of Negro Artists in 1959, which today is known as the National Conference of Artists.)

The DuSable Museum of African-American History is the nation's oldest, non-profit institution devoted to the collection, preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of African and African-American history and culture. It also holds the distinction as being Chicago's only major independent institution to preserve and interpret the historical experiences and achievements of African-Americans.

The museum's permanent collection includes artifacts, books, photographs, art objects and memorabilia totaling over 15,000 items. The holdings include original slave documents and civil rights memorabilia; an art collection rich in nineteenth- and twentieth-century works; the photographic collections of Pulitzer Prize winning photographer John Tweedle and South African photographer Leo Leveson; and an ethnographic collection of African woodcarvings, bronze castings, and ivory carvings, along with films and bibliographic files. 

Among the continuing exhibitions are Fight to Fly: Blacks in Aviation (a salute to the courage and accomplishments of African-American aviators); Harold Washington in Office (Chicago's first mayor of African-American descent); Africa Speaks (a display of artwork and artifacts from the African continent); Distorted Images: Made in the U.S.A. (an exhibition that serves as a barometer of past racial attitudes); From Trial to Triumph (a timeline of the experience of Africans in America from slavery to freedom); and DuSable Treasures (a selection of paintings, mosaics, prints, and sculpture from select artists).

For tour information for groups of eight or more, call 773-947-0600, ext. 255.