After 1964, the founders of Black museums tended to be younger people whose political rhetoric and goals were informed by the civil right movement. They included: Charles Wright, who established the Museum of Afro-American History in Detroit (1965); Edmund Barry Gaither, hired by Elma Lewis to direct her museum in 1968; Byron D. Rushing, the first director of the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston (1969); and Rev. John Kinard, the first director of the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in Washington, D.C. (1967). All felt that museums could be instruments of empowerment for the local Black community.

Unlike most museums, which were originally founded to house an existing collection, most of the newer African Americans museums started with a mandate from the community for positive education, a group of political activists, and a desire to communicate. Thus there has often been a greater focus on performances, art exhibitions, tours and classes for students than on valuable art or material culture collections.

During the presidency of Richard M. Nixon, the preparation for the 1976 bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence boosted spending on historical projects to an unprecedented level. Simultaneously, the growth of the number of Black elected officials at the local, state and federal level brought Black communities greater government resources than ever before. During the 1970s, Black museums or heritage societies were funded in Providence, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The rapid growth of these museums led to the formation of the African-American Museums Association in 1978.

Overall, the creation of Black museums was one of the most important and successful institution-building outcomes of the Black Consciousness Era.

White Institutions in the Black Consciousness Era

Until recently, most major Americans museums -- even the newer "living history" museums -- continued to exclude or ignore African American materials, with the exception of a few artists.