abouTculture

A Story That's Never Been Told:
THE BRAZOS VALLEY AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
By NIKA HANCOCK

Alvin Ailey, the famous choreographer, picked cotton in Navasota. The first African American police officers in the area were not allowed to arrest white people. Bryan/College Station schools were integrated in 1971, a mere 37 years ago. The first African American woman to attend Texas A&M was a teacher from Bryan. These are just a few facts one can learn on a visit to the Brazos Valley African American Museum.

Mell Pruitt began collecting artifacts and stories about African Americans when she was a teacher. She started when she had to put together a bulletin board for Black History Month and had trouble finding positive things about African Americans. According to museum director Velma Neblett Spivey, Pruitt was certain that somebody had to be doing something good and made it her goal to collect and preserve information and items. The fruition of this goal was the founding of the African American Heritage Society and then the building of the museum.

The museum opened in June of 2006, built on the 1885 site of one of the first schools for Blacks in the area. The 500 East Pruitt Street location is also significant because at one point it was called Freedman Town and was where the first freed slaves and their ancestors lived. The name of the street was recently changed from 20th Street to Pruitt Street in honor of the museum founders, Mell and Willie Pruitt.

Students from Texas A&M created potential models for the design of the museum. The final design, completed by Jim Singleton Architects, is in the shape of an “A”, which is an ancient African symbol. The building’s exterior is decorated with patterns of authentic African blanket patterns.

The museum is organized chronologically and geographically, beginning in Africa, moving on to the history of African Americans in the United States and Texas, and finally to their history right here in the Brazos Valley. One of the highlights of the museum is the “We Grew Up in the Brazos Valley” audio/visual exhibit. This exhibit includes interviews of local African-Americans who were over 90 years old at the time the Oral History Project was put together. Spivey, who actually knew many of the 22 people that make up the display, says, “The wisdom is all in their faces and their eyes.”

Curator Wayne Sadberry, a self-proclaimed history buff, says “I embrace the whole ambiance of a museum and the fact that it’s all historical . . . there’s so much beauty.” Sadberry believes that African American history must be appreciated by everyone because “not only must the majority part of society respect and understand it, but even among the minority part of society, we don’t really understand and know [either].”

Sadberry puts up a new display in the changing exhibit area every three to four months. A new exhibit will be opening at the beginning of February.

The museum begins the huge undertaking of hosting all 1,300 2nd Graders from Bryan schools throughout February and March. Spivey has high hopes for these children and for all visitors to the museum. “I want them to be proud . . . and know that it doesn’t matter who you are, that you are important and that you can do whatever you want to do, there is nothing stopping you, but you.