Rethinking America's Past: Voices from the Kinsey African American Art and History Collection

Abstract

The Kinsey Collection is one of the preeminent private collections of African American art and history in the world today. The collection spans five-hundred years of African American intellectual and artistic impacts, and shifts the memory of African American history from victimhood to an emphasis of social and cultural achievement. Through selected pieces in The Kinsey Collection, Rethnking America's Past: Voices from the Kinsey African American Art and History Collection explains how African Americans have influenced the course of history and art through aesthetic, intellectual, and political innovation. Together, the contributors exemplify the role of memory and bring to light prominent figures of African American art history, not yet fully appreciated for their contributions. These essays encourage a deeper understanding of creative ways of resisting and contributing, which African Americans have shown consistently throughout U.S. history. To date, the collection has exhibited in twenty-four major art and history museums around the country including the Norton Museum of Art, The Smithsonian, The DuSable Museum and the Underground Railroad Museum.