The African American Museum In Philadelphia

What The African American Museum In Philadelphia does

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit cultural institution founded in 1976 as the first museum funded and built by a major municipality to preserve, interpret, and exhibit African American heritage. Headquartered at 701 Arch Street in Philadelphia's Historic District, with plans announced in 2022 to relocate to the former Family Court building on the Ben Franklin Parkway, AAMP operates four galleries and an auditorium anchored by three exhibition themes: the African Diaspora, the Philadelphia Story, and the Contemporary Narrative. Its permanent holdings include the Jack T. Franklin photographic archive of more than 500,000 negatives, the Pearl Bailey personal papers and recordings, the Cash/Thompson Negro League photographs, and over 400 African artifacts acquired from the Philadelphia Civic Center Museum, with public access provided through an online collections database.

Name

The African American Museum In Philadelphia

Legal name

African American Museum in Philadelphia

Website

https://aampmuseum.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is a nonprofit cultural institution that preserves and exhibits African American heritage through four galleries, signature events, and educational programs for families, students, educators, and members in the Philadelphia region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Museum Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (712)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

History Museums (THAJADAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Performing Arts & Cultural Event Venues (Theaters, Museums) (THAHAAAG)

Keywords

• Cultural heritage museum
• African American history
• Art exhibitions
• Educational programming
• Community engagement

Headquarters

HQ city

Philadelphia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Admission Fees: General admission fees charged to visitors: Adults $20, Youth/Students/Seniors $10 each. Museum closed to general public on Wednesdays (group tours only).
2. Membership Programs: Multiple membership tiers generating recurring revenue: AAMP Membership ($25-$65), Friends of AAMP ($150-$750), Audacious Freedom Society ($1,000-$10,000), and Library Membership ($200).
3. Event Rentals: Four galleries and auditorium available for private events including weddings, corporate events, seminars, fashion shows, film screenings. Multi-purpose room accommodates up to 150 people.
4. Grants and Donations: Funding from foundations and government programs including Save America's Treasures grant ($150,000), EITC program partnerships, and general donations.
5. EITC Partnerships: Educational Improvement Tax Credit program enables businesses to receive tax credits while supporting museum educational programs serving school students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The African American Museum in Philadelphia operates a physical museum at 701 Arch Street with four galleries and an auditorium presenting permanent and rotating exhibitions on African American history, supported by an online Virtual Campus platform. It generates revenue through general admission, tiered memberships, educational group tours and workshops, event/facility rentals, and grants and donations from foundations, government programs, and corporate sponsors.

Product overview

The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) operates as a multi-component cultural institution offering physical exhibitions, virtual programming, educational services, and facility rentals. Its core offerings include four rotating and permanent exhibitions across four galleries and an auditorium, a permanent core exhibition (Audacious Freedom), and major traveling exhibitions. The institution complements its physical presence with the AAMP Virtual Campus for online access, educational programs including group tours, Learning Through the Arts workshops, and STAMP Pass for teen visitors. Additional offerings include Juneteenth and Kwanzaa celebrations, event/facility rentals, and tiered membership programs. The museum generates revenue through general admission ($20 adults), group tours, facility rentals, memberships, and donations, and maintains public access to its collections through an online database.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AAMP Virtual Campus: Online platform offering virtual access to exhibitions, programs and resources during extended closure periods
• AAMP in the Community
• Juneteenth Jubilee
• Kwanzaa Celebration

Products and services

• General Admission Daily admission to the museum's exhibitions. Adults $20; youth (4-12 years), students with ID, and senior citizens $10 each. AAMP members admitted free. Museum open Wednesday for group tours only and Thursday through Sunday from 10 AM to 5 PM.
• Audacious Freedom: African Americans in Philadelphia 1776-1876 Permanent core exhibition recounting the stories and contributions of people of African descent in Philadelphia following the nation's founding. Features a narrated interactive timeline, full-size video projections of trailblazers, and hands-free gallery access across multiple galleries. Presented by PECO.
• Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design Major traveling exhibition showcasing two-time Oscar-winning costume designer Ruth E. Carter's career, including award-winning costumes, personal sketches, iconic costumes, and behind-the-scenes design process. On view November 2025 through September 2026.
• Sailing to Freedom: Maritime Dimensions of the Underground Railroad Traveling exhibition exploring maritime dimensions of the Underground Railroad and enslaved African Americans' daring escapes by sea. Originally developed at the New Bedford Whaling Museum in 2022.
• AAMP Presents: The Pearl Bailey Showcase Exhibition featuring objects from the Bailey-Bellson Collection including scrapbooks, archival photographs, and letters from friends and admirers worldwide of entertainer Pearl Bailey. Exhibited March 22 through September 21, 2025.
• Shaheed Rucker: (re)Covering the Iconic Exhibition where designer and artist Shaheed Rucker reactivates the classic design of Jet magazine covers featuring prominent figures throughout Pennsylvania's history. Exhibited December 20, 2024 through July 27, 2025.
• Shared Vision: Portraits from The CCH Pounder-Koné Collection Exhibition featuring paintings from actress CCH Pounder's personal collection, curated exclusively for AAMP, spanning the African diaspora. Exhibited September 14, 2024 through March 2, 2025.
• IMPRINT: Dox Thrash Black Life, and American Culture Exhibition exploring the life and artistic legacy of printmaker Dox Thrash, from his beginnings in Griffin, Georgia, to his groundbreaking contributions to the art world in Philadelphia. Exhibited March 23 through August 4, 2024.
• Who Is Ona Judge?

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of school students served annually through EITC educational programs
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• Wawa Welcome AmericaflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Wawa Welcome America provides free museum admission during Juneteenth celebrations, enabling guests to explore exhibitions at no cost. This is a flagship partnership for AAMP's major annual Juneteenth Jubilee event.
• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaborative partnership for the 'Rising Sun: Artists in an Uncertain America' multi-site exhibition. Both institutions received major grants from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to support this transformative exhibition.
• EITC Business PartnerscoreOthersBusinesses participating in Educational Improvement Tax Credit program to support AAMP's art-based educational programs serving thousands of school students annually. Includes Cigna and other corporate partners.
• PhilabundanceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAMP serves as drop-off location for non-perishable food donations during Hunger Action Month, supporting community food security initiatives.
• Historic Philadelphia Inc.minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for '52 Weeks of Firsts' programming commemorating the founding of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society.
• Taller PuertorriqueñominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Super Bowl LX Watch Party event, extending AAMP programming to partner cultural institution venue.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Studio Museum in Harlem: A leading cultural institution dedicated to artists of African descent, with a focus on contemporary art and artist-in-residence programs. Comparable nonprofit museum model, overlapping donor base, and similar African diaspora curatorial scope.
• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History: Detroit-based museum of African American history, the world's largest institution dedicated to the African American experience. Comparable mission, similar admission and membership model, and a peer institution in size and programming.
• DuSable Museum of African American History: Chicago-based museum founded in 1961 dedicated to African American history. Closely matched as a municipally-supported African American heritage museum of similar scale, with comparable permanent collections, education programs, and revenue mix.
• Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD): San Francisco-based museum dedicated to African diaspora history, art, and culture. Comparable as a mid-sized diaspora-focused museum with permanent galleries, traveling exhibitions, and a strong education/community engagement mandate.
• National Great Blacks in Wax Museum: Baltimore-based wax museum dedicated to African American history. Comparable as a mid-sized African American heritage museum with permanent exhibits and a strong educational outreach component, though differentiated by wax-figure format.
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture: Baltimore-based museum focused on Maryland's African American heritage. Closely analogous as a mid-sized, municipally-supported African American history museum with permanent galleries, traveling exhibitions, and educational programming.
• Hampton University Museum: One of the oldest African American museums in the U.S., housed at Hampton University. Comparable as an African American-focused museum with significant African art and African American fine art collections, including a long-standing archive.
• National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian): The federal Smithsonian museum dedicated to African American history, life, and culture. Directly comparable mission, but operates at vastly larger scale, is free-admission, and draws national/international tourism that competes with AAMP for cultural visitors.

Regional players

• Independence National Historical Park: Adjacent National Park Service site in Philadelphia's Historic District. Comparable as a major cultural-heritage attraction sharing the same tourist catchment, with which AAMP often bundles its visitor experience (one block from AAMP).

Broad incumbents

• Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA): Historic Philadelphia art museum and AAMP's co-development partner on the Rising Sun exhibition. Comparable as a Philadelphia-based cultural institution serving overlapping audiences, though focused on fine arts broadly rather than African American heritage specifically.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/africanamericanmuseuminphiladelphia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The African American Museum In Philadelphia