NEW EXHIBIT AT BRENHAM HERITAGE MUSEUM EXPLORES BLACK ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Brenham Heritage Museum invites the public to learn about Washington County’s early Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs.
“Our Own Hands: Early Black Businesses that Shaped Our Community” will be on view throughout the month of February in the museum’s Blue Bell Gallery. The museum says the exhibit honors Black community members whose work helped shape the county’s economic and cultural landscape.
Through historic photographs, artifacts and personal stories developed with the assistance of the museum’s African American Content Committee, the exhibit explores how entrepreneurship and ingenuity took hold while also demonstrating how the local businesses became centers of connection, pride and identity.
Brenham Heritage Museum Interim Executive Director Ciera Harris says the exhibit “reflects the strength, determination, and ingenuity of Black entrepreneurs who built opportunity where little existed.” She says, “By working directly with community members to share these stories, we are ensuring that local history is told authentically and preserved for future generations.”
In conjunction with “Our Own Hands”, the museum will debut two new permanent interpretive kiosks examining the history of slavery and the Reconstruction era. The kiosks will be unveiled during a grand opening event on Friday, February 27th at 4 p.m. That evening, from 6 to 7 p.m., Dr. John Lundberg of Tarrant County College will present a public program exploring these topics and their lasting historical impact.
Additional details about Dr. Lundberg’s presentation and related programming are available at www.bhmtexas.org. Sponsorship opportunities remain available for guest speakers as part of the Dr. Wilfred Dietrich Speaker Series.
