Few museums show the North's Civil Rights Movement. A new one in Harlem is ‘just getting started’
NEW YORK (AP) — The National Urban League will open a museum this weekend in Harlem dedicated to the civil rights struggles in the North, the first of its kind in New York City. Located in the Urban League’s Manhattan headquarters, the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem explores the region's lesser-known histories of the Civil Rights Movement and the local changemakers and artists whose contributions helped shape politics and culture worldwide. With nearly 12,000 square feet (1,100 square meters) of permanent and rotating exhibits and galleries, organizers say they hope to remind visitors of their “collective power” in the present. “We want people to know that they are key participants,” Jennifer Scott, the museum’s founding executive director and chief curator, told The Associated Press during an exclusive preview of the space. “History is living, it’s unfinished, and we can impact it,” she said. Scott is a national public history scholar with experience preserving Black history in museums and research centers across the country. She led the design of a permanent interactive installation and an inaugural set of rotating exhibitions. Marc Morial, the Urban League’s president and CEO, underscored the importance of establishing the museum just blocks from such key
