The Black History 101 Mobile Museum made a stop at Penn State as part of the school’s Black History Month celebrations.
The Black History 101 Mobile Museum includes over 10,000 artifacts from American Black history. It covers everything from slavery to modern day hip hop.
People who attended the exhibit set up in the HUB-Robeson Center at Penn State got to see a curated selection of about 200 of those artifacts, with a focus on music. Kavon Shah, the museum’s national executive director, also hosted a lecture about music’s role in the liberation of Black people.
Melia Brown is the program coordinator for Penn State’s Office of Student Leadership and Involvement. Brown said the organizer brought artifacts that went beyond vinyl records or CDs.
“Not just music records. So he has chains from slavery like the actual chains. He has an example of a Green Book and together they all kind of tell a story,” Brown said.
She said it is important to bring these cultural opportunities to State College because of the town’s lack of diversity.
“We don’t have like an African-American museum here. We don’t have a Latin museum here or a Hispanic museum here, so when we have these opportunities here it is important to open it up to all of the community members of color,” Brown said.
Brown said her office is organizing another exhibit for Women’s History Month in March.