In 1964, Dr. Charles H. Wright visited West Africa and was inspired by the small, cultural museums he found throughout the villages. After returning to the United States and becoming more active in the civil rights movement, Wright began organizing what would become the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, one of the first of its kind. Its founding meeting occurred on March 10, 1965 — the day after Wright’s return from the Selma-to-Montgomery, Alabama Civil Rights march.

“(He) came back to Detroit with that fire in his belly…” says Kevin Davidson, the museum’s director of Design and Fabrication. “The museum, it’s basically an institution that corrects a lot of wrongs in history.”

Now the Wright is celebrating its 60 th anniversary with a gala Oct. 11 with the theme “Ce

See Full Page