Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and State Museum Gallery
Exhibitions:
The Hattie McDaniel Exhibit
Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, 3700 Blue Parkway
The exhibit runs from Feb. 10 to May 2012.
Tuesday - Saturday
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
FreeThis exhibition examines the life and career of Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Academy Award and a Midwest native. It chronicles the struggles she endured to "make it big" in Hollywood during the Jim Crow era, when racism and segregation was the norm. It examines the controversial roles she played on screen and the path she blazed for future talented African American performers. For more information, call 816-513-0700.
In the auditorium:
“Jazz Greats”
The Spirit of Freedom Foundation collection, “Jazz Greats,” a series of pastel and charcoal portraits of African American jazz musicians, is on loan from the Spirit of Freedom Foundation and sponsored by the Friends of Bruce R. Watkins.
The Gertrude Keith Resource Library: “The Life and Times of York"
Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
York, a slave who accompanied explorers Lewis and Clark on their famous expedition, was the first black man to venture into the wilderness of the Louisiana Purchase. The exhibit chronicles his life and examines the conditions and environment of slavery in the early to mid-1800s. Opened in the spring of 2004, the exhibit will run indefinitely, and was established with the support of state, county and municipal governments. 
