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America's Black Holocaust Museum gears up for Museum Days ahead of its first anniversary

The museum is one of nearly 30 locations in Milwaukee offering free or discounted admission from January 19-29 for "Milwaukee Museum Days."

As this year’s Milwaukee Museum Days kicks off, one of the participating locations is also celebrating a big anniversary and is ready to welcome visitors to ring in the big occasion.

By: Elaine Rojas-Castillo

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MILWAUKEE — As this year’s Milwaukee Museum Days kicks off, one of the participating locations is also celebrating a big anniversary and is ready to welcome visitors to ring in the big occasion.

“In our first year, we have had close to 10,000 people come through the museum, and we're excited that Museum Days is going to give them an opportunity and new people an opportunity to come and visit us,” said Chauntel McKenzie, Chief Operating Officer, America’s Black Holocaust Museum.

From Jan. 19-29, Milwaukee Museum Days will offer free or discounted admission to nearly 30 different places across the area.

One of the places participating in the ten-day event is America's Black Holocaust Museum, which focuses on telling America’s history through the African American lens.

“This is all of our collective history. We are here as an anchor to spark uncomfortable conversations to educate, to be a place for racial reconciliation, and the museum covers from pre-captivity to present day,” said McKenzie.

Chief Operating Officer Chauntel McKenzie says the timing of the annual event could not come at a better time, as the ABHM plans to celebrate its first brick-and-mortar anniversary, after closing its doors back in 2008 and living online until last year.

“We are excited when people come through our doors every day and learn very under-told stories that perhaps are not being shared in school. And we think that it is just an amazing opportunity that we are back as an anchor of historic Bronzeville in Milwaukee,” said McKenzie.

With Museum Days running until just days before the start of Black History Month, McKenzie says she hopes Milwaukeeans will take advantage of the discounted $5 admission fee to learn about a history that surrounds them every day.

“What America's Black Holocaust Museum offers is a bridge and a place to learn some of the uncomfortable parts of our history. It's hard to know where you're going if we don't know where we come from, and it's hard to understand who we are collectively,” said McKenzie.

Below is a full list of participating museums.