African American history often lives in the boxes, attics, closets and basements of private homes in family collections. The African American Cultural & Historical Museum of Washtenaw County’s goal is to document and display our local cultural arts, history and contributions – and place it in a regional, state, national and international context.

This can be accomplished through a robust collection of artifacts, documents, photographs and oral histories donated by the community, to the Museum. These items will be preserved and presented in exhibits at 1528 Pontiac Trail and shared interactively online for researchers, students, teachers and the community to learn from. In this photo, Alice Gilbert donated this doll that once belonged to the great great grandaughter of Asher Aray. If you have an artifact to donate click on the Historical Objects Inventory, answer a few questions and we will contact you to discuss the donation.