Transcripts

BOBBY MONK: The original door.

[BELL RINGS]

You're now in the front lobby of the house.

RUPA SHENOY: The Cole mansion is dusty and empty. But Bobby Monk is already used to giving tours of the building.

BOBBY MONK: These are the formal stairs here. They're wide for the hoop skirts.

RUPA SHENOY: Monk is one of the founding members of a group working to turn the home into the state's first African-American museum. A real estate developer named Amos Coe built the house in 1883. Monk calls it the Mercedes of homes of the times. Now it sits right next to Highway 94.

BOBBY MONK: If you stop and listen, not bad for 94's running right outside our door. So the windows and that do knock down the sound. And then you have the wonderful look of downtown Minneapolis.

RUPA SHENOY: The mansion is 2 and 1/2 storeys. Each room is a unique shape. Many have elaborate wood carvings decorating large windows. Some walls and ceilings are worn away.

BOBBY MONK: We have multiple rooms. These rooms are going to be the exhibit rooms.

RUPA SHENOY: The home served for years as rental housing. But it had been empty for two decades, when local businesswoman Roxanne Givens first saw it. She got lost while driving and stopped when she saw the Coe mansion, with a sign in front that said it was for sale.

ROXANNE GIVENS: When I walked through the doors, I thought it was the place for a museum. I had to enter the threshold. And then that just popped in my mind. And boy, it's been a mission ever since.

RUPA SHENOY: That was June 2008. Over the next six months, Givens formed a new organization that raised the funds to buy the property. Since then, they've secured funding for renovations and exhibits from private, corporate, federal, and city sources. A bill before state lawmakers would put more money toward the cause. Givens says African-Americans need to know about their culture and its history in Minnesota.

ROXANNE GIVENS: They need to know who they are. They need to know that they just weren't swept upon the shore here. And unfortunately, I believe a significant percentage of our kids believe that. The museum of this nature is significant because it is empowering. It gives us a direction. It is almost like a beacon. It's going to bring about a great deal of connectivity from all populations, but specifically populations of color.

RUPA SHENOY: She hopes the museum can be a place where African immigrants and African-Americans learn about each other.

ROXANNE GIVENS: The cultures and traditions are always going to remain with each ethnic group. But what will happen is a learning of those traditions on all parts. We're populations that are not going anywhere. And we need to know how to make it work as a whole and to be inclusive in a new movement for change.

RUPA SHENOY: The process may take place slowly. The museum will at first borrow artifacts from other organizations. With time, it'll build up its own collection with rotating exhibits. Sharon Kennedy Vickers is in charge of planning those exhibits.

SHARON KENNEDY-VICKERS: We want it to be interactive. We want it to be able to appeal to a variety of generations. We want it to be participatory. And we want sound, and music, and movement. All those things are a part of our culture, so we want our museum spaces and exhibits to reflect that.

RUPA SHENOY: Exhibits will touch on figures like George Bonga, the first African-American born in Minnesota, who was a translator of Indian languages. Eliza Winston, who was brought to Minnesota as a slave and won her freedom in court.

Lena Smith, the first African-American woman licensed as a lawyer in Minnesota. And Roy Wilkins, a University of Minnesota graduate who went on to be president of the NAACP and a key figure in the Civil Rights movement. Vickers says the museum will also focus on contributions by African-Americans in Minnesota today.

SHARON KENNEDY-VICKERS: Students will have a space where they can record their story as well so that they can leave their impact.

RUPA SHENOY: She hopes the students will describe their personal history for the museum, and then also record what they plan to do for their culture and Minnesota in the future. Rupa Shenoy, Minnesota Public Radio News.