Garden Exhibits at the Museum

For more than 250 years, African Americans, free and enslaved, have used gardens as a tool of provision and resistance. Their relationship to the land has been complicated, connected with enslavement yet emerging as a valuable means to resist the lethal threats of hate and racism. Private, community, and public lands have served as places of growth, nourishment, and sanctuary. The National Museum of African American History and Culture and Smithsonian Gardens are collaborating on a phased project to produce curated gardens, develop interactive programs, and collect stories that tell the living history of African American gardens, foodways, and agricultural practices. The project is also a means for exploring how gardening is a form of resistance against environmental injustice, food apartheid, and gentrification.

Washington, District of Columbia · United States