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ACROSS THE BOARD
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Black World
History Museum Hands-On Board
By Pam Droog
Above:
Back Row (left to right): Herman Lewis; Erika D. Neal; Janis
Weaver; Josephine Baker (wax figure); Rev. Earl E. Nance Jr.; Lois
D. Conley, founder and executive director; Clarence Zacher, vice
chair. Seated (left to right): Myrtis Spencer, chaplain; Theresa
E. Cobb, secretary; Dr. Tullia B. Hamilton, chair; Odell Hayes;
Matrice J. Wilson, treasurer. Not Pictured: Emma R. Conley
and Elizabeth Collins.
When an unexpected tour bus pulled up in front of the Black World
History Museum on a recent Saturday, founder and executive director
Lois Conley called museum board members to come help out. When the
museum sponsored a "Cue On The Corner" fundraiser, board members
put on aprons and sold barbecue. When both of the museum's two staff
members are away, board members run the museum. They've put up exhibits
and taken them down, stocked the gift shop, answered phones and
even helped clean out the building to get it ready for renovation.
"It's a working board in the true sense of the word," Conley says.
"In addition to doing all the things boards normally do, they get
their hands dirty and do what has to be done."
A lot has been done and remains to be achieved at one of the area's
newest museums. Conley opened the Black World History Museum at
2505 St. Louis Avenue near downtown St. Louis in 1997, the result
of her own dream and determination. Today, her hardworking board
of 11 helps make sure the dream grows and continues to touch lives.
The second of its kind in the U.S., the Black World History Museum
features a scale model section of a slave ship and an actual, reconstructed
slave cabin, plus permanent exhibits that interpret American history
as it relates to Missouri's Black heritage. The exhibits include
several life-size wax figures of African Americans with a Missouri
connection-Josephine Baker, Dred Scott, Clark Terry, Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. and the Rev. Earl E. Nance Sr., to name a few. Several
were sculpted by Conley herself.
"Early on, the museum was named the Black History Wax Museum, but
that's not a very good description of what's really going on there,"
says board President Tullia Hamilton. "To me, the museum addresses
issues that are terribly important Ñ preserving the history of African
Americans and educating people about it."
Hamilton had been a frequent visitor to the museum since Conley
first opened it. "Whenever I'd have the chance, I'd go there and
just be awed by what Lois had accomplished with practically nothing,"
Hamilton says. As a result, she got to know Conley, who subsequently
invited her to join the board.
Other board members also started out as visitors. "That's what I
was looking for," Conley says. "People who buy into the museum and
the vision make the best board members."
Of the original board, some have left and some have been reappointed.
Several new members, recommended by others on the board, have recently
joined. They are community activists, retired senior citizens, religious
leaders, entrepreneurs, consultants and corporate executives. All
but one is African American.
"They're not necessarily recognized names, folks who are movers
or shakers," Hamilton says, "but simply people, like me, who have
a great interest in the success of the museum."
To achieve that success, the board has launched several projects,
including the Fifth Year Anniversary Capital Campaign, which hopes
to raise $2.5 million in five years or less. Housed in a former
Catholic school, the museum has run out of space. Exhibits and administrative
offices occupy the main floor, but the lower level and second floor
need to be renovated. A new elevator is under construction.
When more space becomes available, besides having room for more
exhibits, administrative and archival space, the museum will be
able to generate income from increased facility rentals. Until space
became so limited about a year ago, the museum averaged about 12
facility rentals a year.
Early indications are the campaign will be successful. For one thing,
ÒI can remember when I said we need to raise $500,000 and the board
would say, "Wow, that's a lot of money." But they didn't even wince
at $2.5 million," Conley says. "I think this is real evidence of
their growing understanding and acceptance of the vision and affirmation
of their commitment to help make it happen."
Also, she adds, "We're starting to meet with donors. Some people
we hoped we could meet with have given us an audience and told us
they'll get their associates to help, too." In fact, one donor will
host a fundraiser for the museum this summer.
Besides raising funds for the building, another major focus is building
the board. Hamilton explains, "We've all been so busy just operating
the museum, we haven't had time to pay attention to how to move
to the next level, setting our overarching policy and governance."
To that end, the board has held several meetings on how to make
the transition. "For an institution like ours that's had some success,
sometimes it's hard to take the next step. But the group really
seems to be energized now about how we can build a better and stronger
board," Hamilton says. The board is working with professional consultants
regarding space needs, raising money, adding members and increasing
visibility.
Another important board function is approving the museum's interpretive
programming. "It's tied in to our vision plan, which was developed
by a committee of the board," Conley notes.
As a result, the museum's permanent wax-figure exhibits, complemented
by artifacts and photographs, have increased from five the first
year to 16. Four times a year, the museum presents special traveling
exhibits relating to the broader Black experience, some of which
further highlight the Missouri connection. The Smithsonian's "Beyond
Category" celebrated Duke Ellington's 100th birthday, but also featured
St. Louis native Clark Terry. Another Smithsonian traveling exhibit,
"The Jazz Age in Paris," highlighted noted musicians of the 1930s
and "40s, including Josephine Baker. One from the New York Public
Library, "Black Dance," featured Katherine Dunham.
This month the museum opens an exhibit about Madame C. J. Walker,
the first female African American millionaire who made her fortune
in hair-care products. The exhibit features a wax figure by Conley.
In June the museum presents a traveling exhibit, "Sequined Surfaces,"
a rare collection of Haitian voodoo flags, and in July it opens
"Camp Discovery," a living history interpretation of the African
American involvement in the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Louisiana
Purchase.
"These exhibits give people who've never been to the museum a reason
to come here, and they bring back former visitors, too," Conley
says. That includes 46,000 St. Louisans and others who have visited
the Black World History Museum in five years-mostly school groups
and an increasing number of out-of-town individuals and families.
"A lot of people hear about us through our board," Conley says.
"They are true ambassadors."
Pam Droog is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer. |
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