George Washington Carver Museum In Austin Turns 40

AUSTIN, TX — The cultural hub for the Black community in Austin will stage a music-filled virtual celebration on Saturday to mark its milestone, 40th anniversary.

During the past four decades, the museum has served as a cultural hub for the Black community in the greater Austin metropolitan area. The broadcast birthday celebration will begin at 3 p.m. featuring musical performances by EimaraL Sol along with performances by Distinguished Soundz plus dancers, DJs, along with guest appearances from community leaders, artists, and educators.

The celebration also will honor community members who have committed themselves to the growth and development of Austin’s African American community, organizers said in an advisory. The event will be streamed on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and www.carvermuseumatx.org.

Located in the Rosewood neighborhood in Austin’s African American Cultural Heritage District, the museum works to preserve the history, culture and art of Black people. When the museum opened in 1980, it was the first African American neighborhood museum in Texas. Through the preservation and exhibition of African American material culture, history, and aesthetic expression, the Carver Museum works to create a space where the global contributions of all Black people are celebrated.

The museum accomplishes its mission by telling stories about our local community and connecting those histories to larger narratives about Blackness.

The museum is currently undergoing a community-driven facility expansion plan that could substantially increase the footprint of the cultural facility.

To register for the virtual event, visit carverturns40.eventbrite.com.

The namesake of the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. George Washington Carver was the most prominent black scientist of the early 20th century before his death in Tuskegee, Alabama, on Jan. 5, 1943.

>>> Top photo of George Washington Carver via New York Public Library Digital Collections, public domain.