The new Jim Crow Museum of Racist Imagery will open later this month, with opening days set for Sep. 30 and Oct. 1.
The Jim Crow Museum is the nation’s largest publicly accessible collection of artifacts of intolerance.
The museum, previously housed on the bottom floor of FLITE, is now tucked between the Star and Williams Auditorium buildings. The museum itself is organized into display shelves, permanent exhibits, viewable storage, as well as moving exhibits. The original collection included around 5,000 pieces; however, thanks to donations and other purchases, the new museum will house up to 30,000 different pieces.
Founder and curator of the museum, Dr. David Pilgrim, has spent the last five years working on the new museum project. The museum itself was an idea started by Pilgrim.
“I donated my personal collection of about 3,500 pieces in the early 90s. In 2001, the museum started to receive national attention. Every time we got in a newspaper, people would send us stuff. Right before the move, it began to get overwhelming to keep up with donations; we actually had to tell the public on our website to stop sending us stuff,” Pilgrim said. “Every piece that you see has a number, a session number and a record for [placement].”
The collection is not limited to just racist objects and artifacts; throughout the museum, visitors can understand the pushback at every point against them in real time. With multiple pieces that serve as a reminder that the experience of Black people in the world did not begin with enslavement.
“An object does not have to be racist to be in here, but it has to help us talk about race. Our approach is we want you to answer the question of what’s not wrong with it while someone else asks the question, what’s wrong with it?”
Throughout the museum, visitors will be able to tour the different displays, including two flat-piece collections worth more than $2 million, original painted pieces, pushback exhibits, a story sharing room and much more.
“Our goal is to let people know that we’re always going to have, including the exhibit room and some other spaces, to make sure we don’t forget that other people are oppressed in this country,” Pilgrim said.
The museum itself is surrounded by a veil; Assistant Director and assistant to Dr. Pilgrim, Elise Gramza, explains the meaning behind it.
“The structure surrounding this building symbolizes the veil described by W.E.B. Du Bois, the social and psychological barrier that separated Black and white Americans. The Jim Crow Museum exists to help lift that veil,” Gramza said. “Within these walls, you will encounter objects, images, and stories that expose the history of racism, reveal its lasting consequences, and illuminate the struggle for justice and human dignity. We invite you to enter not as a spectator, but as a witness. What you discover here may challenge you. We hope it also changes you.”
The museum expects to have a large turnout for the opening event, even welcoming visitors from neighboring colleges and out of state.
The museum is free to enter for students and there will be a small fee for all other visitors. Those interested in attending the main event are welcome to the Williams Auditorium at 1 p.m. on Sept. 30, followed by the ribbon-cutting at 3 p.m. After the ribbon-cutting, attendees are welcome inside to explore the new museum, ask questions, make connections and have conversations.