For Women’s History Month AAHMSNJ will present an exhibit focused on the profiles of African American women past and present.

At AAHMSNJ Atlantic City

2200 Fairmount Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ 08401

FREE. Donations are encouraged.

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR:

For Women’s History Month the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey (AAHMSNJ) presents an exhibition focused on the profiles of African American women past and present. The exhibit opened March 5th, 2020, just before the COVID Pandemic shut everything down.  It remains on display at the Noyes Arts Garage of Stockton University, 2200 Fairmount Avenue, Atlantic City, NJ.

This exhibit, entitled Talking About HERstory, is about several South Jersey African American women. It profiles Sara Spencer Washington and Rita Mack, for their entrepreneurial skill and philanthropy. It includes Drs. Vera King Farris, Barbara Gaba, and Jean Thomas Griffin, all of whom excelled in higher education. Rosalind Cash, Carole Byard, Anna Land Butler and Joanna LaSane represent the arts along with dance teachers Louise Forrest Johnson and Pattie Harris. Redenia Gilliam Mosee and Sister Jean Webster are examples of giving back to make a difference in the community. Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Mary McLeod Bethune are among the historic African American icons who provide context in this survey of women’s achievement. The stories of Amy Hester Reckless and Jarena Lee, women born in South Jersey in the late 1700s, are interesting because they took action to change their lives and documented their experiences.

Ralph Hunter, President and Founder of the Museum, plans for the exhibit to become part of the Traveling Museum after its March debut. The new exhibit was drawn from the archives of the Atlantic City Free Library and the AAHMSNJ archives and called upon the memories of local historian Elwood Davis and others. Hunter calls Talking About HERstory a “living exhibit” that is intended to change over time. The exhibit is sponsored by Anthony and Rita Mack of A&R Enterprises.

Learn more about this exhibit in the Press of Atlantic City article.