A guard tower from Angola Prison stand in the background at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The prison, which was referred to as the “the bloodiest prison in the South,” originated on a plantation and cells were located on old slave quarters.
A statue of Thomas Jefferson stands in front of a wall emblazoned with the slaves he owned. The museum notes that Jefferson owned 609 slaves, including his own children.
Facing the rising sun, the National Museum of African American History and Culture on Jan. 13, 2017.
A red Cadillac Eldorado owned by Chuck Berry is seen on display at the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

WASHINGTON – The National Museum of African American History and Culture – which President Donald Trump once said made him “deeply proud” – has become a flashpoint in the White House's targeting of the Smithsonian Institution.

The museum was among a group of Smithsonian facilities named in Trump's executive order "restoring truth and sanity to American history." It was also one of several museums that is having its exhibits and programming examined as part of a White House review ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary next year.

Since its come under pressure from the Trump administration, the African American history museum's director has stepped down and its grounds have been the site of several large rallies, with hundreds of demonstrators demanding that the adminitration leave the museum alone.

In August, Trump said on social media that the Smithsonian focuses too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on “success.” As an example, the White House cited a controversial graphic released online by the African American history museum in 2020.

The graphic, which was part of the museum’s “Talking About Race” portal, described what it called “aspects and assumptions about white culture.” Following intense backlash from conservatives, the graphic was removed, and the museum issued an apology.

The White House’s recent characterizations of the museum stand in stark contrast to Trump's comments after he toured the facility in 2017 and hailed it as “a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes."

“This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms,” he said at the time.

USA TODAY visited the museum, along with four others, to assess the administration’s concerns and get visitors’ perspectives.

Here's what to know:

When did the museum open?

The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened on Sept. 24, 2016, to much fanfare.

The opening ceremony was full of pomp and circumstance, with reflective speeches and a slate of presidents, actors and celebrities in attendance.

President Barack Obama closed out the event and, speaking to a large crowd gathered outside the three-tiered building, said the museum reaffirms that "African American history ... is central to the American story."

A museum a long time in the making

Congress and President George W. Bush authoritzed the contruction of the museum in 2003, following decades of requests and lobbying from advocates who wanted to see a museum in the nation's capital dedicated to the experience and history of African Americans.

Unusually, the museum had to build its collection from scratch. To do so, a Smithsonian team traveled across the country and held events in which thousands of ordinary people brought in antiques and heirlooms to donate. Many of the items that are highlighted in the museum's galleries – including Harriet Tubman's shawl and Nat Turner's Bible – were acquired this way.

Built on five acres of land a short walk from the Washington Monument, the facility is among the newest Smithsonian museums. It's a sprawling 10-story building holding about 105,000 square feet of exhibition space. In 2024, it hosted 1.6 million visitors.

What's inside the National Museum of African American History?

The museum’s permanent galleries trace through six centuries of history in the Americas, from the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the early 1500s to the election of President Barack Obama and beyond.

On the bottom floor, where the historical galleries begin, the mood is somber as visitors navigate dimly lit corridors, viewing renderings of Africans packed into slave ships and descriptions of the horrid conditions they faced in colonial North America.

The museum notes how African slaves worked alongside indentured servants from Europe before laws in the mid-1700s cemented a system of slavery based on African descent. These new laws, a video in the museum says, “created whiteness” and separated indentured Europeans from enslaved Africans.

At the beginning of a section on the Declaration of Independence stands a statue of Thomas Jefferson flanked by stacks of bricks, each emblazoned with the names of the slaves he owned.

“The tension between slavery and freedom – who belongs and who is excluded – resonates through the nation’s history and spurs the American people to wrestle constantly with building a ‘perfect union,’” text on a nearby wall reads. “This paradox was embedded in national institutions that are still vital today.”

As visitors ascend through decades of history, they can enter a segregation-era railway car, sit at a lunch counter protest and read about Civil Rights figures such as Rosa Parks, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. One room contains the casket of 14-year-old Emmett Till, the boy who was kidnapped and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after he was accused of whistling at a White woman.

At the end of the historic galleries, where light begins pouring into the building, visitors move above ground and pass by a quote from poet and Civil Rights activist Langston Hughes.

“I, too, am American,” it reads.

The top floors of the museum are dedicated to African American culture and the pivotal role Black Americans have played in everything from music and literature to technological advancements and the military.

Beaming with sunlight, these galleries feature shimmering pieces of memorabilia: Muhammad Ali’s headgear, Jackie Robinson’s jersey, one of Dinah Washington’s dresses and Chuck Berry's cherry red Cadillac Eldorado – a stark difference in tone from the exhibits below ground.

Visitors describe museum as 'truthful' and 'all-encompassing'

Over a dozen people who visited the museum told USA TODAY it presents a clear-eyed telling of history that doesn’t sugar-coat the atrocities of slavery and segregation, but also provides plenty of examples of success, hope and prosperity.

“I think it’s very honest and truthful,” said Chris Bradshaw, 40, who visited the museum for the first time with his mother.

He took issue with Trump saying the Smithsonian focused too much on slavery. “It is literally the foundation of this country, and it’s the foundation of this museum,” Bradshaw said. “The prosperity is there – it’s just at the top.”

Eugene Lucas, 61, spent a few hours in the museum while on a family trip to attend an honoring ceremony for his cousin – a member of the rap trio Jungle Brothers – hosted by the National Hip-Hop Museum.

“It was all-encompassing,” he said of the galleries, including a section on the Harlem Hellfighters, a regiment of Black Army infantrymen in which his great-grandfather served.

“Changing any of this now would just be going back in time.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What to know about the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Reporting by Christopher Cann, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect