Design and Fabrication

Pathways to Freedom in the Americas: Shared Experiences between Michigan and Mexico
Pathways to Freedom in the Americas is an exhibition inspired by the meeting of two women who became fast friends - Patricia Ann Talley, an African American from the United States of America, and Candelaria Donají Méndez Tello, an Afro-Mexican from Mexico (the United Mexican States). Through their discussions, they learned about the parallel histories of their ancestors who were brought to the Americas via the trans Atlantic slave trade. Together, they introduce the exhibition, which presents the symbiotic (beneficial) relationship that has existed between Americans and Mexicans but has seldom been told.

Divided into three sections, the exhibition uses video, maps, photographs, art, and music to depict a different aspect of slavery in the Americas, the story of fugitives that escaped slavery in the United States on the Underground Railroad south to Mexico, African heritage as it continues to permeate Mexican culture

Inspiring Minds: African Americans in Science and Technology is a comprehensive, high-tech and permanent exhibition highlighting trailblazers, contemporaries and careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  African Americans have contributed to the scientific and engineering output of the United States since the 17th century, and this history is brought to life through interactive computer kiosks, a touchscreen video wall, and hands-on activities and play areas teaching basic engineering concepts.  Four disciplines of scientific advancement are explored: Physical Sciences, Earth Sciences, Life Sciences, and Technology & Engineering.  Within these, Inspiring Minds introduces individuals from across the spectrum of fields, levels of renown, and from times past and present, with particular focuses on African American women in science, black aviators, black inventors, medical ethics, and key historical figures such as George Washington Carver.

A Very Present Force: Celebrating a Century of the Detroit Branch NAACP
The Detroit Branch NAACP has long been a trailblazing civil rights organization. Since its formation in 1912 - only three years after the founding of the national association - the Detroit Branch NAACP has been on the frontlines of civil rights activism and advocacy, both locally and throughout the nation.  A Very Present Force celebrates this sustained and important century-long struggle for equal opportunity and social justice.

Organized into three sections, A Very Present Force explores the Detroit Branch NAACP’s rich local history while situating it within the broader national and international struggle for civil rights.  Section One explores 19th century activism from the 1800s through World War I.  Section Two examines the founding of the Detroit Branch in 1912 to its hosting of the national NAACP Convention in 1989.  Section Three explores Branch activism from 1990 to the present.