Seventeenth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum

Abstract

This paper explores the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum (ACM), which strives to uncover and promote local narratives from the Greater Washington, D.C. region. Located in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., this community museum reflects its name in that it is positioned off the tourist’s path, away from the National Mall in a residential area. The historic neighborhood east of the Anacostia River is home to predominantly Black residents who have been disproportionately faced with environmental injustices. Brett Williams’ and Madeleine Dwyer’s research foci of pollution and its effects not only on the Anacostia River but also upon community inhabitants support my argument that race, gender, and environmental justice in Anacostia, and in general, are inextricably linked. My focus is on the exhibition: “To Live and Breathe: Women and Environmental Justice in Washington, D.C.” and I aim to understand how this museum site functions as an alternative to the traditional hegemonic institution of the museum and how (successfully) it applies a “decolonial lens” in curating exhibits. The goal of this paper is to provide an overview of environmental injustice and community museum responses in the Anacostia and greater District area. I first contextualize and discuss the development of the ACM, then move to an analysis of the exhibition and critically frame the museum’s position as a postcolonial entity. More specifically, I inquire how the museum frames the narratives of traditionally marginalized people and how it remembers the activists who fought for environmental and social justice.