116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
African American Museum of Iowa christens new $5 million renovation
Reopening to headquarters for growing statewide presence
Feb. 28, 2024 5:00 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — A ribbon cutting Tuesday marked the anticipated reopening of not just a new building, but a new vision for the African American Museum of Iowa.
With speakers from across the state and more than 200 in attendance, leaders of Iowa’s primary source of Black history celebrated a new milestone as not just a repository, but a headquarters for a growing statewide presence to match the demand for knowledge and resources.
“During a time when history has been rewritten, forgotten, or even worse — erased — now has never been a better time to grow the importance of telling our state’s Black history,” said Zack Bohannon, chairman of the Voices Inspiring Progress capital campaign tasked with raising $6 million for the renovation. “Even once we think we have shattered one glass ceiling, we find another one is even higher, because the fight for equality and justice never ends.”
The museum’s reopening, expected this spring after more than 18 months of renovation, will unveil a modern face thanks to a $5 million renovation prompted by construction of the city’s flood control system. The museum’s former entrance, now blocked by a floodgate along 12th Avenue SE, has been moved to the building’s east side along a glass-walled lobby.
Major donors to the capital campaign include $1.07 million from the city of Cedar Rapids, more than $750,000 from the Iowa Economic Development Authority's Destination Iowa and the Hall-Perrine Foundation, and significant contributions from Linn County as well as multiple other companies. The $6 million campaign included a goal of stretching the museum's endowment by $1 million.
“We’re part of a village that transcends many boundaries, and we are pleased to continue being a voice that inspires progress,” said LaNisha Cassell, executive director of the museum. “We are beyond inspired by this transformation.”
As efforts in diversity, equity and inclusion from schools to corporations continue to face backlash from conservative state legislators, Black speakers representing cities from Sioux City to Waterloo spoke to the importance of highlighting a history that hasn’t been completely acknowledged in formal, institutional education.
With a marked uptick in resource demand that has been sustained since the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Cassell told The Gazette that the demand for resources during the building’s closure made the museum busier than it was before it closed in August 2022. On Tuesday, leaders affirmed the museum’s role as one of statewide importance — not just Cedar Rapids or Eastern Iowa acclaim.
“African American history doesn’t divide us, but it brings us together,” said Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart.
After its first major renovation in 19 years, the building features a multitude of both cosmetic and functional improvements: an expanded lobby and parking lot, new carpet and lighting throughout, a reinforced roof, new climate control and sprinkler systems, and the more visible relocation of the “Trumpet“ sculpture inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
But inside, visitors will soon notice even more: a genealogy lab to allow the public to research their family history, a new reception desk and merchandise counter, and improved space for both permanent and temporary exhibits. On reopening this spring, visitors will be able to see an exhibit about the museum’s history since it started at Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in 1993, including past exhibit themes.
“To all of our students, and particularly our Black and African American students out there, we want today to symbolize that it is their opportunity to still make history,” said Tawana Grover, the first Black woman to serve as superintendent of the Cedar Rapids Community School District. “Our students have a power to shape the future of our community and this world. … Thank you to the AAMI for being a leader, for showing our students how to stand up for what they believe in and make their voices heard.”
Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said the museum’s evolution is characteristic of the city’s themes in resilience after natural disaster, emphasizing the fitting importance of its placement in the city.
“We are the shepherds of this gem and treasure,” she said. “We want the world to know what exists here in our great state.”
That statewide footprint, which grew during the museum’s closure through traveling exhibits, has become more intentional with partnerships including public libraries in major Iowa cities, art museums, colleges, the Des Moines Metropolitan Opera, and Indian Creek Nature Center. The museum’s strategic plan includes identifying communities, including rural ones, in need of greater access to their resources.
Meanwhile, traveling exhibits like those on redlining, Black hair culture, migration and immigration will continue as other exhibits afford the flexibility to identify history being drafted today.
“Being closed forced us to do things we maybe wouldn’t have done so soon,” Cassell told The Gazette. “The building represents that labor of love, but also the vision that is statewide. We want people to engage in person, but we’re not limited to the building.”
Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.
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