Georgia Magazine - February 2018 - 24

LOUIS TONSMEIRE

An educational adventure
Tubman Museum combines African-American
history, culture, art

Above: Trenda Byrd, director of education
and outreach at the Tubman Museum in
Macon, tells visitors about the museum's
namesake, Harriet Tubman, a statue of
whom is on display. The Tubman Museum
is raising funds to purchase the statue,
which was created by Atlanta sculptor Fred
Ajanogha, for its permanent collection. To
learn more, see tubmanmuseum.com/its-allabout-the-tubmans.

BY STEPHANIE GREEN

n West African culture, a griot
holds the sacred and honorable
duty of preserving the oral history
of the people.
"They were artists, cultural ambassadors and storytellers, and that's
the role that we see that we're playing," says Andy Ambrose, executive
director of the Tubman Museum in
Macon. "The Tubman is very distinctive in that it's one of the few museums and the largest whose focus
is not only African-American history
and culture but also art. We combine all of that together as a way of
exploring important events and individuals-and not only locally but
nationally."

A historical start
The Tubman was founded by the
Rev. Richard Kell, a white, Catholic
priest whose work in rural Alabama
and Mississippi in the 1950s and '60s
24

left a lasting impression regarding
the racism and discrimination that he
witnessed. He decided to establish
a museum in the South that would
present and celebrate African-American history and culture.
The original Tubman Museum
building was 8,500 square feet and
opened to the public in 1985.
"But we outgrew that space,"
Ambrose says. "We didn't have
enough room for our collections, our
audience [and] our programs, and
we moved two blocks to this new,
incredible facility, which is 49,000
square feet. So that's a tremendous
jump in size, and the architecture of
this structure enabled us to do a lot
of nontraditional experiences."

Pan African Festival: A feast for
the senses
Those nontraditional experiences include the museum's Pan African
More online at www.georgiamagazine.org

Festival, which draws thousands annually. More than 18,000 people attended last year.
"The Pan African Festival really
wonderfully represents what this museum is about and the different ways
we explore cultural and historical impact and contemporary relevance,"
Ambrose says.
Now in its 22nd year, the free
festival offers an African marketplace
for food vendors, art and an array of
performances by local and national
artists. It is an ideal opportunity for
people to come and explore every
aspect of the Tubman Museum.
This year's event is slated for
April 28-29, and, because of its popularity and attendance, it will have a
new venue.
"We're looking at a homecoming,
moving it a short distance away to
Central City Park, which is where the
festival first started 22 years ago as a
GEORGIA MAGAZINE

http://www.tubmanmuseum.com/its-all-about-the-tubmans http://www.tubmanmuseum.com/its-all-about-the-tubmans http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - February 2018