A railroad car from Chattanooga, Tennessee, used by African-American passengers during the Jim Crow era.
Pete Claussen and Gulf & Ohio Railways (the company he founded in 1985) donated more than $222,000 to restore the car, which was built by the Pullman Company in 1922.

The desk of Robert Sengstacke Abbott, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper founded in 1905.

A segregated drinking fountain from the Jim Crow era with the sign "colored" (indicating it was for use by blacks only).

Dresses and other garments by fashion designer Ann Lowe.
Lowe designed clothing for the Du Pont family, Roosevelt family, and the Rockefeller family.
She also designed items for wealthy etiquette expert and socialite Emily Post and her family, and created Jacqueline Bouvier's wedding dress for her 1953 marriage to John F. Kennedy.

A recreation of part of "Mae's Millinery Shop," the hat shop begun by Mae Reeves in 1942, one of the first businesses in Philadelphia owned by an African-American woman.

The Purple Heart and footlocker owned by James L. McCullin, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen.

A PT-13D Stearman biplane trainer aircraft operated by the United States Army Air Forces and used in 1944 for training members of the Tuskegee Airmen.

A sign from a bus in Nashville, Tennessee, from the Jim Crow era which indicates which seating is for blacks only.

A guard tower and cell from the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) known for much of the 20th century as a cruel, violence-prone, squalid prison where African American inmates were treated worse than slaves.
NMAAHC curator Paul Gardullo said the items document how attitudes about slavery were carried over into the post-slavery prison system in the Deep South.
Museum Director Lonnie Bunch acknowledged scholars' worries that the items were controversial, but said the museum's mission is to tell stories through the African-American experience.
The 20-foot (6.1 m) high guard tower will be part of an exhibit on segregation, while the 6 by 9 feet (1.8 by 2.7 m) prison cell will be in a separate exhibit on places.
Both items are from Camp A, the oldest section of the prison.
The cell was constructed atop slave quarters.

Allan Rohan Crite's painting Stations of the Cross (1947)
David Driskell's Behold Thy Son (1956)
The glass-topped casket originally used to display and bury the body of 14-year-old Emmett Till, the victim of racially motivated torture and murder in Mississippi.
Till's death served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.

The dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955.
Parks' action sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, and her action was one of the first incidents of civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement.

A Selmer trumpet owned by jazz musician Louis Armstrong.

Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves.
Boxing headgear worn by Cassius Clay (later to be known as Muhammad Ali).

A dress owned by actress and singer Pearl Bailey.

A cape and jumpsuit owned by American soul singer James Brown.

The Moog synthesizer and MPC beat machine used by hip-hop producer J Dilla.

A chef's jacket worn by Leah Chase, the New Orleans-based chef known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine.

The "Mothership", a 1,200-pound (540 kg) aluminum and acrylic glass prop created by funk music singer George Clinton and used during performances of his bands Parliament and Funkadelic.
Clinton's original "Mothership" was scrapped in 1983; this replica was crafted by Clinton in the mid-1990s and used for about five years.

A collection of costumes designed by director and costume designer Geoffrey Holder for his 1976 musical, The Wiz (an adaptation of the L. Frank Baum novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz).
The costumes won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design, the play won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Holder won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

A cherry red Cadillac convertible owned by rock and roll singer Chuck Berry.

An amplifier, speakers, and turntables used by Tony Crush a.k.
A railroad car from Chattanooga, Tennessee, used by African-American passengers during the Jim Crow era. Pete Claussen and Gulf & Ohio Railways (the company he founded in 1985) donated more than $222,000 to restore the car, which was built by the Pullman Company in 1922.
The desk of Robert Sengstacke Abbott, editor-in-chief of the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper founded in 1905.
A segregated drinking fountain from the Jim Crow era with the sign "colored" (indicating it was for use by blacks only).
Dresses and other garments by fashion designer Ann Lowe. Lowe designed clothing for the Du Pont family, Roosevelt family, and the Rockefeller family. She also designed items for wealthy etiquette expert and socialite Emily Post and her family, and created Jacqueline Bouvier's wedding dress for her 1953 marriage to John F. Kennedy.
A recreation of part of "Mae's Millinery Shop," the hat shop begun by Mae Reeves in 1942, one of the first businesses in Philadelphia owned by an African-American woman.
The Purple Heart and footlocker owned by James L. McCullin, a member of the Tuskegee Airmen.
A PT-13D Stearman biplane trainer aircraft operated by the United States Army Air Forces and used in 1944 for training members of the Tuskegee Airmen.
A sign from a bus in Nashville, Tennessee, from the Jim Crow era which indicates which seating is for blacks only.
A guard tower and cell from the Louisiana State Penitentiary (Angola) known for much of the 20th century as a cruel, violence-prone, squalid prison where African American inmates were treated worse than slaves. NMAAHC curator Paul Gardullo said the items document how attitudes about slavery were carried over into the post-slavery prison system in the Deep South. Museum Director Lonnie Bunch acknowledged scholars' worries that the items were controversial, but said the museum's mission is to tell stories through the African-American experience. The 20-foot (6.1 m) high guard tower will be part of an exhibit on segregation, while the 6 by 9 feet (1.8 by 2.7 m) prison cell will be in a separate exhibit on places. Both items are from Camp A, the oldest section of the prison. The cell was constructed atop slave quarters.
Allan Rohan Crite's painting Stations of the Cross (1947)
David Driskell's Behold Thy Son (1956)
The glass-topped casket originally used to display and bury the body of 14-year-old Emmett Till, the victim of racially motivated torture and murder in Mississippi. Till's death served as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement.
The dress which Rosa Parks was sewing the day she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, on December 1, 1955. Parks' action sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, and her action was one of the first incidents of civil disobedience in the Civil Rights Movement.
A Selmer trumpet owned by jazz musician Louis Armstrong.
Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves. Boxing headgear worn by Cassius Clay (later to be known as Muhammad Ali).
A dress owned by actress and singer Pearl Bailey.
A cape and jumpsuit owned by American soul singer James Brown.
The Moog synthesizer and MPC beat machine used by hip-hop producer J Dilla.
A chef's jacket worn by Leah Chase, the New Orleans-based chef known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine.
The "Mothership", a 1,200-pound (540 kg) aluminum and acrylic glass prop created by funk music singer George Clinton and used during performances of his bands Parliament and Funkadelic. Clinton's original "Mothership" was scrapped in 1983; this replica was crafted by Clinton in the mid-1990s and used for about five years.
A collection of costumes designed by director and costume designer Geoffrey Holder for his 1976 musical, The Wiz (an adaptation of the L. Frank Baum novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz). The costumes won the Tony Award for Best Costume Design, the play won the Tony Award for Best Musical, and Holder won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.
A cherry red Cadillac convertible owned by rock and roll singer Chuck Berry.
An amplifier, speakers, and turntables used by Tony Crush a.k.
National Museum of African American History and Culture