Black History 101 Mobile Museum founder Khalid El-Hakim.

Robert Morris University
February 15
9 a.m. – 8:15 p.m.

There are many ways to celebrate Black History Month around Pittsburgh in February and all year long, and now, one very unique portable museum is hitting the road across the country to inform and inspire the public.

Courtesy of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum
Courtesy of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum

The public can explore African American history and culture from the origins of slavery to contemporary hip-hop culture when the Black History 101 Mobile Museum rolls into town at Robert Morris University (RMU).

Setting up shop on Monday, February 15th from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in RMU’s Moon Township-based John Jay Center, the one-of-a-kind mobile museum features an impressive collection of more than 2,000 original, African American artifacts and memorabilia.

Courtesy of RMU
Courtesy of RMU

Visitors will get to see rare treasures and original documents from historic African American figures whose contributions, achievements and experiences helped to shape US history. Artifacts explore slavery and the Jim Crow era, music and pop culture, the Civil Rights and Black Power eras, sports, and more.

Highlights include a rare slave bill of sale and documents signed by Booker T. Washington, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Shirley Chisholm, Alex Haley and others. Founded and curated by Khalid El-Hakim is the Black History 101 Mobile Museum is based out of Detroit.

Also not to miss on Monday at RMU is a talk by hip-hop and spoken word artist, educator, writer and producer Professor Griff. Best known as a founding member of the seminal hip hop group Public Enemy–which became the fourth hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013–Griff will present the talk, Back to the Roots: Understanding the Past, to be Present in the Future. Free and open to the public, the lecture and book signing takes place at 7 p.m. at RMU’s Sewall Center.

Photo by Richena Brockinson, courtesy of New Horizon Theater.
Photo by Richena Brockinson, courtesy of New Horizon Theater.

Looking for more ways to celebrate Black History Month in Pittsburgh? Check out these 5 events:

Looking for more events? Read our 10 Pittsburgh events not to miss in February feature.

Jennifer has worked at the Mattress Factory, Brooklyn Museum of Art and Dahesh Museum of Art and is co-author of Pittsburgh Signs Project: 250 Signs of Western Pennsylvania. She also is co-coordinator of Handmade Arcade. Musically, she is in a band called The Garment District and is a founding member of Brooklyn's The Ladybug Transistor.