African American Museum

The African American Museum in Philadelphia is set to receive a $3 million grant from the City of Philadelphia, officials announced yesterday. "This is a great gift for this museum at this time," said Ramona Riscoe Benson, president and chief executive officer of the museum at Seventh and Arch Streets in Center City. "It will allow us to make this building more appealing to visitors. " Riscoe Benson said the grant was the largest in the history of the museum, which opened in 1976.

As he placed a kinara on display at the African American Museum in Philadelphia Saturday, Mlanjeni Nduma paused to correct a child confused by the wooden candleholder's resemblance to a menorah. "No, it's not Hanukkah. It's Kwanzaa," Nduma, who was leading a Kwanzaa celebration at the museum, told the boy. "People say that all the time. " Though Kwanzaa dates to the mid-1960s, the seven-day celebration of African American culture, heritage, and family born out of the black nationalist movement still is unfamiliar to many people, Nduma said.

Terrie S. Rouse, president and chief executive of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, has resigned after four years leading the city's largest black museum, at Seventh and Arch Streets. Carol Lawrence, who runs the city's Office of Arts and Culture, will act as an interim museum director until a permanent successor to Rouse is found. Rouse's resignation came as a surprise to the museum community, although rumors of friction between Rouse and the museum board, headed by chairman Carl E. Singley, have circulated for some time.

EIGHT MONTHS AGO, the African American Museum in Philadelphia was close to collapse. Years of inconsistent leadership, financial instability and a disengaged board of directors had left the once-proud art institution on its knees, begging for help. Only a $135,000 advance from the city's annual $300,000 allotment kept the museum afloat. The crisis was serious; without major changes, the museum dies. Last week, the museum's new leadership announced a six-month "recovery plan" to bring more money, improved management and greater visibility to the 29-year-old museum.

Bolstered by a new leader and a financial-recovery plan, the African American Museum in Philadelphia is digging its way out of debt and hoping to regain its financial footing. The 45,000-square-foot museum, which features more than 750,000 African and African American artifacts and other historic and cultural items in four galleries, was nearly $500,000 in the red in 2004. Last year, the debt was down to $201,000. "We hope that by the end of the calendar year we will have all our debts satisfied," Romona Riscoe Benson, president and chief executive officer of the museum, at Seventh and Arch Streets in Center City, said in a recent interview.

THE African American Museum in Philadelphia is in trouble. So what else is new? Rather than be a beacon for black art and history, the venue at 7th and Arch has become a conservatory of poor governance and frustration. In July, Harry Harrison, the museum's 14th executive director in 28 years, quit. This after he had to lay off staff and beg the city for a $150,000 advance on the annual $300,000 allotment it gives to the museum. The city gave $135,000. According to a 2002 audit, the museum had a $160,000 deficit, though the city and state ponied up $1 million, nearly half the museum's annual budget.

With the presentation of a small blue box, the African American Museum in Philadelphia received a giant national treasure Tuesday as it was lent the Congressional Gold Medal bestowed on Rosa Parks, known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement. "We could not be more honored than to have this piece of history here with us at our own African American Museum in Philadelphia," Mayor Nutter said of the medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress. It was given to Parks in 1999.

A former public-relations consultant for the African American Museum in Philadelphia is suing its president for slander, contending that a letter she sent to board members resulted in his being informally banned from work in the hospitality business. As the case began yesterday, an attorney for museum president Romona R. Benson acknowledged that the termination letter had contained an erroneous accusation against consultant Joel Avery. But Benson's attorney denied that the letter to nine board members had derailed Avery's once-thriving business or led to his being denied work by the close-knit group of major tourism organizations in Philadelphia.

The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention converges on Philadelphia in two locations on Friday and Saturday with an awards ceremony, comic books, workshops for kids, a costume contest, and more. Convention festivities from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Friday at the African American Museum will include a free reception along with the annual Glyph awards ceremony honoring African American icons in the comic book industry. The convention continues from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the Enterprise Center in West Philadelphia, featuring the Kids' Library Zone (from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.)

Richard J. Watson Age: 67 Where ya from? Born in Badin, N.C., but came to Philly at age 11 and grew up at 21st and Master. What do you do? Artist, musician and exhibitions manager and artist-in-residence at the African American Museum in Philly. Why did you move to Philadelphia? "At age 8, I moved with my aunt from North Carolina to Queens, N.Y., for three years. [His mother died when he was 3.] When I was 11, my father remarried, and we moved to Philadelphia. " Historic ties? Member of the Cecil B. Moore Freedom Fighters protesters at Girard College.

The Supremes' glamorous style - lush eyelashes, sleek beehive hairdos, and fur stoles - forced the world to see black women as more than mammies and maids years before the civil rights movement got fully under way. But the accessories wouldn't have mattered a lick without the gowns. Original Supremes Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Florence Ballard performed in what seemed like an endless supply of heavily beaded, floor-length confections. Some featured plunging necklines and flowing capes.

REMEMBER TO send us your fondest memories of Motown's Supremes and their songs to supremes@phillynews.com . You could win two free tickets to "Come See About Me," an exhibit of the group's outfits that's now at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. Feb. 1 is the deadline.

As he placed a kinara on display at the African American Museum in Philadelphia Saturday, Mlanjeni Nduma paused to correct a child confused by the wooden candleholder's resemblance to a menorah. "No, it's not Hanukkah. It's Kwanzaa," Nduma, who was leading a Kwanzaa celebration at the museum, told the boy. "People say that all the time. " Though Kwanzaa dates to the mid-1960s, the seven-day celebration of African American culture, heritage, and family born out of the black nationalist movement still is unfamiliar to many people, Nduma said.

KWANZAA IS A time for unity, when communities come together and reflect on their common heritage. This weekend, the African American Museum in Philadelphia will do just that with a full schedule of Kwanzaa-related events. The holiday is usually celebrated over a week - Wednesday through Jan. 1 this year - with each day representing one of the seven principles of African heritage. Saturday is Ujamaa, the day of cooperative economics, and Sunday is Nia, the day of purpose. Among the events Saturday is a session on the African diaspora and black genealogy with the African-American Genealogy Group.

With the presentation of a small blue box, the African American Museum in Philadelphia received a giant national treasure Tuesday as it was lent the Congressional Gold Medal bestowed on Rosa Parks, known as the mother of the modern civil rights movement. "We could not be more honored than to have this piece of history here with us at our own African American Museum in Philadelphia," Mayor Nutter said of the medal, the highest civilian award bestowed by Congress. It was given to Parks in 1999.

Forty films in four days are a lot to sift through. So here are our must-see picks for the BlackStar Film Festival. (Admission is $8, $5 students.)   " Brooklyn Boheme ": Nelson George and Diane Paragas look back at the African-American artistic community in 1980s Brooklyn, N.Y. — specifically the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill neighborhoods — that filmmaker Spike Lee equates to the Harlem Renaissance. The scene birthed Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Rosie Perez, poet Saul Williams, Chris Rock and more.

MUSIC SPANISH NIGHTS The Philadelphia Orchestra snaps to a "Spanish Dances" theme, with conductor Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos and guitarist Pepe Romero. Program features Ravel's classic, "Bolero. " Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce streets, 2 p.m. today, 8 p.m. tomorrow, $10-$124, 215-893-1999, www.philorch.org . QUESTLOVE AND FRIENDS Ahmir Khalib Thompson, a/k/a DJ Questlove of the Roots, joins the Young Friends of the African American Museum in Philadelphia for "Next Level," a fundraising party featuring DJ Yo!

In the most troubled of many troubled times stretching back through the decades, the African American Museum in Philadelphia almost became a building without a staff. The reason was simple: No cash. Before that perilous moment in 2004, the museum had had more than a dozen directors. And even before that - before it became the first municipally funded black museum in the country in 1976 - it had faced contentious neighbors and lawsuits aimed at stopping its construction. But through all the criticism and fiscal crises, the museum has survived, and now, as it marks its 35th anniversary with a weekend-long Juneteenth celebration, it appears to have achieved not just survival, but stability.