Smithsonian's At the Vanguard Takes HBCU History on the Road: More Than 100 Objects From Five Universities, Touring Through 2029
Atlanta — The Smithsonian Institution on November 5 highlighted its newest traveling exhibition, At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs, which has begun its national tour. The exhibition kicked off at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., and is currently on view at the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, through December 2026.
The exhibition weaves together collections from five Historically Black Colleges and Universities — Clark Atlanta University, Florida A&M University, Jackson State University, Texas Southern University and Tuskegee University — with more than 100 objects exploring their practices in the arts, their academic programs and their groundbreaking activities on and around their campuses, and how HBCU campuses have documented, preserved and exhibited African American histories and traditions. The Washington run, from January 16 to July 19, 2026, was curated by Joanne Hyppolite, Tulani Salahu-Din and Jeanelle Hope.
The exhibition will travel around the country through 2029. Tour stops include the University Museum at Texas Southern University, the Two Mississippi Museums in partnership with Jackson State University, the Charlotte Museum of History, the Tuskegee University Legacy Museum and Florida A&M University.
At the Vanguard is a collaboration between the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, part of the HBCU History and Culture Access Consortium Initiative, made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and a bequest from Dr. Beryl Carter Rice. A companion book, At the Vanguard, has been published as the first volume in a new series, featuring objects from the museums and archives of the five universities. (Source: Smithsonian Institution)
Source: Smithsonian Institution
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：展览《先锋：历史黑人院校如何创造与保存历史》主视觉图。史密森尼学会官方发布。 / Photo: Key art for the exhibition At the Vanguard: Making and Saving History at HBCUs. Released by the Smithsonian Institution.
