The National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is a museum in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. The museum showcases the musical genres inspired, created, or influenced by African-Americans. Its location at Fifth + Broadway in Downtown Nashville, as opposed to historically-Black Jefferson Street, has been controversial.

Collection

The museum was said to eventually comprise "five permanent themed galleries" as well as "a 200-seat theater and traveling exhibits". Its founding curator, Dr. Dina Bennett, was appointed in May 2018. The museum showcases more than fifty musical genres that were inspired, created, or influenced by African American culture, ranging from early American religious music to hip-hop and Rhythm and Blues. Its collection will include up to 1,400 artifacts, including clothes worn by

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in ''Ca ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, and

Lisa Lopes Lisa Nicole Lopes (May 27, 1971 – April 25, 2002), better known by her stage name Left Eye, was an American rapper and singer. She was a member of the R&B girl group TLC, alongside Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins and Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas. Besides ...

. The first traveling exhibit is expected to be about the

Fisk Jubilee Singers The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American ''a cappella'' ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditiona ...

History

The museum was proposed by members of th
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
in 2002 with the vision to preserve and celebrate African American music, art and culture. After a task force met and conducted research to determine if the project was feasible, the project shifted over the course of ten years to focus on music exclusively. NMAAM's mission is preserving African American music traditions and celebrating the central role African Americans have played in shaping American music. The museum received $500,000 from the Regions Foundation and $500,000 from the

Mike Curb Michael Curb (born December 24, 1944) is an American musician, record company executive, motorsports car owner, philanthropist, and former politician. He is also the founder of Curb Records where he presently serves as the chairman. Curb also ...

Foundation in February 2019. In 2015, the City of Nashville announced that NMAAM would be located at the old convention center site.

Location controversy

The museum was initially supposed to be built at the intersection of Rosa Parks Boulevard and Jefferson Street, the historic center of the city's African-American community. In 2015, the City of Nashville announced that NMAAM would be located at the old convention center site. The staff of the '' Tennessee Tribune'', Nashville's African-American newspaper, explained: The museum will be located at

Fifth + Broadway Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

in Downtown Nashville, where the

Nashville Convention Center Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

once stood. The new complex, which was expected to cost $450 million, was developed by

OliverMcMillan OliverMcMillan, established in 1978, is a private real estate development firm based in San Diego, California. It creates mixed-use retail, entertainment, and residential projects, both privately and through public-private partnerships with public ...

and Spectrum , Emery, a company owned by businessman Pat Emery. The new location, close to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and the

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...

, was praised by Senator

Marsha Blackburn Mary Marsha Blackburn (née Wedgeworth; born June 6, 1952) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the senior United States Senate, United States senator from Tennessee, a seat she has held since 2019. She is a member of the Repu ...

at a fundraising event in February 2019. Mayor

David Briley Clifton David Briley (born January 8, 1964) is an American politician. A Democrat, he was the eighth mayor of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. He was elected in 2015 as vice-mayor and was sworn in as acting mayor after Megan Barry's ...

added, "For Nashville to get past its history of racism and to start to move to an era where African-Americans both know and can tell their own history in our city, we have to invest in this museum."

Grand Opening

The National Museum of African American Music broke ground in April 2017. The grand opening was January 18, 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Museum of African American Music African-American museums in Tennessee Music museums in Tennessee Museums in Nashville, Tennessee 2019 establishments in Tennessee Museums established in 2019