Black Archives Research Center and Museum

Address:219 Apalachee Pkwy.
Tallahassee, Florida
Tel: (850) 561-2603

Come explore the extensive collections of African and African American heritage at the Black Archives Research Center and Museum. More than a half million documents and thousands of artifacts from all over the world are housed in the repository, including a 500-piece Ethiopian Christian cross collection, and rare African books and maps dating as far back to the 1700s. The museum's collection spans ancient and modern Africa, as well as the periods of slavery, Reconstruction, and Jim Crow. Take advantage of the museum's docent-led tours as you explore exhibits focusing on such topics as black education, blacks in the military, the black church, black women. The history of racism and discrimination are on permanent display.

The home of the Black Archives Research Center and Museum, the Carnegie Library at Florida A & M in Tallahassee, is itself rich with history. Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs, a black legislator from Duval County, introduced a bill to the Florida legislature in 1887 for the establishment of the State Normal College for Colored Students, which eventually changed its name to Florida A & M in 1909. The Carnegie Library building, financed with the assistance of a $10,000 grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, was the first library on a black university campus funded by Carnegie and today it is the oldest remaining building at Florida A & M. The Florida Legislature mandated the creation of the Black Archives in 1971 to "serve the state by collecting and preserving source material on or about Black Americans from the earliest beginnings to the present." Opened to the public in 1977, the Archives receive over 100,000 visitors each year.

Located in the historic 1907 Carnegie Library on the campus of Florida A & M University, the Black Archives Research Center and Museum provides important insight and information on the history of Africa and African Americans. The Black Archives was established by the Florida Legislature in 1971 and dedicated and opened to the public in 1977. Its mission is to collect, preserve, dispense and display materials relevant to the history of African Americans and black people worldwide, emphasizing especially their experiences, contributions, and interactions with other ethnic groups. More than a half million documents and thousands of artifacts from all over the world are housed in the repository, including a 500-piece Ethiopian Christian cross collection, and rare African books and maps, some dating back to the 1700s. Another special feature is the Archives' mobile unit. The unit travels throughout Florida and to neighboring states displaying historical artifacts on the contributions of African America n people.