DuSable Museum of African American History
Price of admission: Adults $3, Students/Seniors $2, Children 6-13 $1, Children under 6 FREE, Sundays are FREE to all
Website - 773-947-0600
Hours of Operations: Mon-Sat 10am to 5pm; Sun noon to 5pm
In 1961, a diverse group of Chicago artists and educators, including Margaret and Charles Burroughs, set out to correct the omission of black history and culture in the education establishment by founding a museum committed to that purpose. The Ebony Museum of Negro History and Art was begun in the former home of South Side contractor John Griffin, later serving as a boarding home for railroad workers before becoming the Burroughs home.
In 1968, the museum was renamed after Jean Baptist Pointe DuSable, a Haitian fur trader who was the first permanent settler in Chicago. In 1971, the Chicago Park District granted the museum’s request to use a former park administration building in Washington Park. The museum became the city’s principal memorial to Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable and the eighth member of the consortium of museums on Park District land. In 1993, the museum opened a new wing bearing the name of the late Mayor Harold Washington that included additional gallery space on two floors and a 450-seat theatre.
The DuSable Museum remains a community institution dedicated to serving the cultural and educational needs of our members. Our research, curatorial and educational divisions are committed to listening and responding to these needs, as well as the ever-increasing demands of art and cultural historians nationwide.
The DuSable Museum of African American History is the first museum of its type in the country and is the only major independent institution in Chicago established to preserve and interpret the historical experiences and achievements of African Americans.
