Anacostia Community Museum Reopens May 30 with a New Exhibit

The Anacostia Community Museum reopens May 30 with the exhibition “We Make History,” running until January 2028. The exhibit examines how communities create and preserve historical records, using artifacts from the museum’s permanent collection and items on loan from partner institutions. A central attraction is a diary written by Adam Francis Plummer, an enslaved man from Prince George’s County, begun on May 30, 1841, and continued by his daughter Nellie Arnold Plummer after his death in 1905. The exhibition includes objects such as Marian Anderson’s 1939 Lincoln Memorial coat and a hat worn by journalist Ethel L. Payne. Four sections focus on primary sources, historical locations, sports, and artistic contributions, with interactive activities like making collectible cards, writing history on a magnetic table, and building models with bricks.

"“We Make History” gathers artifacts from the Anacostia Community Museum's permanent collection, as well as other items on loan from partner institutions. The exhibition's star attraction is a diary written by Adam Francis Plummer, an enslaved man who once lived in Prince George's County. The exhibition opens on the 185th anniversary of the day that Plummer began the diary: May 30, 1841."

"“He faithfully kept that diary throughout his life, and after he passed in 1905, his daughter Nellie Arnold Plummer continued it,” says Jennifer Sieck, curator at the Anacostia Community Museum. “It's likely the only example of a multi-generational diary by an enslaved person in the United States.”"

"Artifacts like the Plummer diary, the coat Marian Anderson wore at her 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert, and a hat sported by journalist Ethel L. Payne will demonstrate how ordinary people can preserve items that help tell extraordinary stories. The exhibition is divided into four sections that spotlight the ways individuals have made and kept history in the District, focusing on primary sources, historical locations, sports, and artistic contributions."

"In the interactive sections, attendees can make their own sports collectible card, pose for a selfie in front of a large image of the historic Howard Theater, write a history on a magnetic table, or use “bricks” to make a model of a place they'd like to preserve. Sieck describes the walk-through as a “workshop” that asks visitors to consider how they already practice record-keeping in their everyday lives."

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