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Museum exhibit testament to enslaved Africans endurance

Contact: Lora Helou, communications manager, MSU Museum, (517) 432-3357, helou@msu.edu

The MSU Museum’s “Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery” exhibit offers an inspiring look at the cultural, political, economic and social practices enslaved Africans developed while enduring dehumanizing conditions of slavery.

This exhibit, which has been touring internationally, will be on display in the main gallery at the museum until March 4.
 
“’Lest We Forget’ focuses less on enslaved Africans as victims and more on the ways in which they reshaped their destinies and place in history through the creation of distinctive cultures in their communities worldwide," said C. Kurt Dewhurst, director of the MSU Museum and one of the exhibit's organizers at MSU.

In addition, the exhibit demonstrates the enormous economic impact of the slave trade and enslaved African labor on the development of the Americas and Europe and the parallel disruption of Africa's economic, political and social life. 

Some of the lasting cultural contributions explored include language, religion, music and institutions. 

"Lest We Forget" draws on the most recent scholarship around the slave trade and was adapted from an exhibit of the same name previously featured at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library.

Jualynne E. Dodson, professor of sociology, director of MSU’s  African American and African Studies Graduate Program and director of the African Atlantic Research Team, was a researcher and developer of the exhibit.

The exhibit was developed in association with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. To learn more about the exhibit, visit museum.msu.edu/Exhibitions/Current/LestWeForget.html

The MSU Museum is Michigan's natural history and culture museum and the state's first Smithsonian Institution affiliate.The MSU Museum features three floors of special collections and changing exhibits and is open seven days a week free of charge. 

The museum is located on West Circle Drive next to Beaumont Tower on the MSU campus in East Lansing and is accessible to persons with disabilities. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m., Sundays. For more information, call (517) 355-2370 or, visit museum.msu.edu