Plese note the concurrent session schedule is preliminary and subject to change.
To view the Schedule-at-a-Glance click here.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 20th, 2026 |
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM |
| Navigating Change Series- Holding the Line Together (Part I): Naming the Pressure, Claiming the Stakes |
| Her Story, Our Responsibility: Ethical Storytelling for Black Women’s Histories |
| To Be Young, Gifted, and Black…and Garnet: Interpreting African American History at a PWI |
| Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now: Digital Black Joy and Heritage in the Philadelphia Region |
| The Millennial Moment: Redefining Leadership in Museums |
| One Nation Under a Groove: Black history as a futures practice |
| This Land Still Speaks: Freedom Seekers, Descendant Reckoning, and America at 250 |
| Courage, Resilience, & Self-Liberation: Teen Civic Designers, Harriet Jacobs, and Public Memory in Cambridge, MA |
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM |
| Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Preserve Black Legacies in the Digital Era |
| Faith as Archive: The Vernon Witness and The Transformation of Museum Practice in Greenwood |
| What’s My Grandmother’s Name? Reimagining Our Ancestors’ Wildest Dreams |
| The Culture and The Ledger: Financial Realities and Blueprints for the Future. |
| Rising Above House Museum Challenges |
| From Chapter to Nation: Panther Legacy-Building as a Model for Civic Memory, Sustainability & Intergenerational Power |
| The Land Tells a Story: Preserving Pauli Murray’s Ancestral Land |
| Telling the Stories This Land Holds: Restorative Landscape Interpretation on the National Mall |
12:00 PM – 1:30 PMKEYNOTE AND AWARD LUNCHEON |
1:45 PM – 3:00 PM |
| Navigating Change Series- Holding the Line Together (Part II): Protecting the Mission, Protecting the People |
| Rooted in Place, Rising in Purpose: Transforming Communities Through Preservation and Programming |
| This Land Holds Our Stories: 100 Years of Black History in Virginia |
| Setting the Foundation for Impactful Interpretation: A hands-on strategy session to revolutionize tours and the visitor experience |
| Honoring the Early Black Descendants of Evansville, Indiana through Collaborative Community Memorialization |
| Building What Lasts: Leadership Lessons for Sustainable Museums |
| Black Women and the Power of Historical Memory |
| Beyond the Building: When Your Community Cannot Come to You, You Go to Them |
3:15 PM – 4:30 PM |
| Africa to Carolina: Next Steps in the Journey |
| After 250: Youth Leadership and the Next Chapter of America |
| Chasing the Bag: Applying to the Burroughs-Wright Fellowship and Submitting Proposals for the Association of African American Museums |
| If We Don’t Carry It, Who Will? Leadership as Cultural Stewardship |
| Community-Centered Museum Making at Poindexter Village |
| Refounding Legacies: Expanding the Nation’s Origin Story at Monticello |
| Built for Return: Everyday Hospitality, Shared Spaces, and Earned Income Through Relationship Building |
| Unfinished Freedom: Interpreting and Collecting Black Experiences of Declaring Independence in Public Exhibitions |
FRIDAY, AUGUST 21st, 2026 |
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM |
| Honoring the Legacy of Ernest C. Withers Sr. |
| Resiliency Blueprint |
| Our Stories. Our Institutions. Our Voice. The Future of Advocacy in the African American Museum Field |
| Making the Ask: Getting Back to Basics for Fundraising Success |
| Use Who You Have to Get What You Want: Developing Dynamic Programming for Institutional Success and Sustainability. |
| Documenting Research Utilizing Low-Cost Methods |
| What Our Founders Knew: Rebuilding the Studio Museum In Harlem |
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM |
| A Gathering Ground: How the HueArts & Cultures Initiative Maps Places Where Our Stories Live |
| This World Formed Our Dreams and Made Them Multiply: HBCU History & Culture through an Afrofuturism & Black Futures Lens |
| Ain’t Nobody Coming to Save the Institution: Shared Authority, Repair, and Museum Practice |
| A Gathering Ground: How the HueArts & Cultures Initiative Maps Places Where Our Stories Live |
| Beyond Aesthetics: From Symbolic Africa to Living Diaspora — Rebuilding Authentic African & Black Diasporic Engagement at the Black Panther Party Museum |
| Margaret Walker and the Power of Words, A New Exhibition |
| VisionARy: Cultural Storytelling through Augmented Reality |
| Telling our Stories and Speaking our Truths: Expanding Access to Heritage Interpretation to Emerging and Early Career African American Museum Professionals |
12:00 PM – 2:00 PMCLOSING PLENARY |
2:15 PM – 3:30 PMThe Museum JEDI Show, Live at AAAM |
3:30 PM – 4:45 PMMOVIE SCREENING |
REGISTER FOR AAAM2026 HERE
