George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center, Cultural center and museum in East Austin, United States.
The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is a museum and community venue in East Austin, Texas, that brings together several gallery spaces, a theater, and multipurpose rooms under one roof. The building functions both as an exhibition space and as a gathering place for performances and community events.
The small wood-frame building was constructed in 1926 at Ninth and Guadalupe Streets, and in 1933 it was moved to Angelina Street to serve the African-American community as the "Colored Branch." Renamed the George Washington Carver Library in 1947, it operated until 1979, when a new library opened next door; the museum opened on October 24, 1980, was expanded in 2001, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The building was long known as the "Colored Branch" before being renamed for George Washington Carver in 1947. Its core permanent exhibit is the Juneteenth Exhibit, with multimedia presentations on early and present-day celebrations and on Texas' role in the Civil War. The Juneteenth Memorial Sculpture Monument, opened June 27, 2015, arranges five bronze figures so the news passes from lawmaker to pastor to freed man and woman to a child.
The museum occupies the former Carver branch library building at 1165 Angelina Street, in east Austin; the 1926 wood-frame structure was moved there in 1933 and a modern library was built next door in 1979. The Juneteenth Memorial Sculpture Monument stands on the grounds and opened on June 27, 2015, with a paved timeline running from the Middle Passage to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Bell of Freedom. A blank pedestal in the group is left for visitors to stand on and add themselves to the story.
The Juneteenth Memorial Sculpture Monument, unveiled on June 27, 2015, comprises five bronze figures by sculptors Adrienne Rison Isom and Eddie Dixon. Isom, an Austin native, made the Freed Man, Freed Woman and Child; Dixon made the Law Maker and Pastor. A paved timeline runs from the Middle Passage to the Emancipation Proclamation and ends at the Bell of Freedom.
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