History

Southgate Jones, Sr. offered the city his house and its contents for a museum in the 1940s.  The city never acted on his offer and urban renewal eventually claimed the house.  Durham citizens have talked about, met about, and hoped for a museum ever since.  

Durham’s Cultural Master Plan www.durhamnc.gov/departments/eed/culture, a Durham city and county initiative completed in 2004, rated a history museum one of the highest priorities.  Many  focus group participants expressed the importance of telling the story of Durham’s rich history.  Participants noted that although organizations throughout Durham County tell parts of the history, the crucial missing piece is an entity to relate Durham’s history as an interconnected tapestry—a whole. 

To establish a museum, the first order of business is to develop a system to coordinate activities and support the programs of Durham’s existing heritage sites.  This system will serve as a valuable underpinning for the overarching program the museum develops.  Summing up the need for a museum, the Cultural Master Plan states that the museum is “one idea that virtually everyone is in agreement on….The value of it has not been disputed during this planning process.  It is time to make it a reality!” p. 56

As a result of the Cultural Master Plan, Jane Goodridge, past president of Preservation Durham, convened a group of people involved in heritage-related activities.  The Museum of Durham History Advisory Committee has met since 2006 to steer the museum toward becoming a reality. 

With funding from the Cultural Master Plan and the Mary Duke Biddle Foundation, the committee initiated the development of a set of banners that began circulating to Durham libraries, governmental offices, universities, and other sites in fall 2008.  These “Celebrating the Arts in Durham” banners—the inaugural exhibit of the Museum of Durham History—premiered at the dedication of the book, Brighter Leaves: Celebrating the Arts in Durham. (Banner content was based on the book, which was published by Preservation Durham.) See the banners. 

Also in 2008, with Cultural Master Plan funding, Riggs Ward museum consultants conducted a “Durham History Museum Preliminary Feasibility Study.”  Interviews with a wide spectrum of people indicated a strong need and desire for a history museum.  These “museum stakeholders” also often reflected a concern that “after several previous efforts to establish a history museum, this time something needs to happen.”

The next step recommended by Riggs Ward was that the organization create a tax-exempt corporation to forge the private-public partnership required for this undertaking.  The museum advisory group quickly followed up, and in October 2008 articles of incorporation were filed and an application for the federal tax-exempt status was made.  The organization, now nonprofit and tax-exempt, is called the Museum of Durham History.  A founding board has been established with Tom Krakauer as chairman. The advisory committee continues to be active, fulfilling an important planning role.