South Dakota African American History Museum

07/17/2025

Sioux Falls! Join us for Porter William’s birthday and celebration of life on Sunday, July 20th @ 3-7pm @ McKenna Park’s bandshell stage area: 400 E. 26th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57105.

There will be cake and nonalcoholic drinks for everyone! Feel free to bring store bought food or snacks to share like a potluck, but please know that this is not a requirement at all. Just show up and have fun with us!

There will be opportunities for anyone comfortable enough to get up on stage of the bandshell to share loving memories and family friendly stories of Porter to our small crowd.

Handcrafted handmade jewelry made by Porter and his apprentices, as well as bib overalls once worn and owned by Porter will be available to anyone who makes a donation. All proceeds, 100% of donations, will go directly to his widow.

Signup sheets will be provided for folks looking to stay up-to-date with future events highlighting and honoring the late great Porter Richard Williams, as more big announcements are sure to come soon! See you all on Sunday!

06/20/2025

See y’all at the cookout on Saturday, June 21st, 2025 from 11AM-5PM, downtown Sioux Falls at Fawick Park, 212 E 11th St, Sioux Falls, SD 57104. FREE food, FREE fun, FREEDOM! Let’s go0o0o0o!!! 🇺🇸🫶🏾❤️🤍💙🫶🏾🇺🇸

06/18/2025

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06/18/2025

Habari Gani, family! We will honor and celebrate the life of the founder of our museum, Porter Richard Williams (born July 21, 1942, ancestor birth May 25, 2025), all throughout the day! Come to the cookout, laugh, dance, sing, have fun, and feel the spirit of Porter there! Hope to see some of y’all rocking those bib overalls! Peace Love and Freedom - Your South Dakota African American History Museum

10/03/2024

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10/03/2024

Join us this Friday, October 4th, at 2PM in Morrison Commons Back Alley with Augustana University Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and the History Department as we invite you to a special event celebrating the legacy and impact of "United Soul," a group of Black and Indigenous students who, starting in 1968, advocated for greater representation on campuses and within the curriculum at both Augustana and Sioux Falls Colleges. You do not want to miss out. Be apart of history. See you soon!

08/16/2024

Will and Zach, you raised the bar with this context report! You are appreciated! Thank you to our student interns from Augustana University that spent the Summer and Fall of 2023 and some of Spring 2024 with their contributions! Jenna Hageman, Ian Kelly, Amanda Schlampp, and Catherine Bahnson. Special thanks to our dear friends Alfred White JR, Carolyn Duckworth, and Phyllis Shelton for the additional context provided in our final drafting of the study. Much thanks to our partner Augustana University and all involved with this project. Peace and love!

The Sioux Falls Board of Historic Preservation recently posted the new context study "Identifying and Documenting African American Heritage Sites in Sioux Falls..." on their website. It was researched and written by staff and students of Augustana University in partnership with the South Dakota African American History Museum. They did research in archives and libraries, used historic maps and newspapers, and conducted oral histories in the community. It is part of a larger public history effort that Zach Van Harris, Jr. and Will Wright are continuing to build upon, to record and recognize stories of African Americans in South Dakota.

This part of their overall project was undertaken through the Certified Local Government grants our State Historic Preservation Office awards with funding from the Historic Preservation Fund through the National Park Service.

Heritage & Historic Preservation - NPS; Augustana University; and South Dakota African American History Museum

https://www.siouxfalls.gov/files/assets/public/v/1/city-government/boards-amp-commissions/board-of-historic-preservation/african-american-heritage-report_2024.pdf

08/16/2024

Thank you, family! We warmly welcome in the season for a whole lot of healing! - SDAAHM

Are you a healer? Help support our Continuous Sabbatical Cohort on their rest journey! We're looking for people who can provide one-on-one support to our ROOT sabbatical fellows. You should align with our values and know how to collaborate with an individual to support their rest dream. If this sounds like you or someone you know, fill out our interest form so we can connect! https://buff.ly/4dm8JWI We welcome all and will center those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a person of color. We are looking for:

• Somatic body workers: Support cohort members in their rest journey through somatic healing.
• Financial dreamers: Help cohort members manage their grant money to live out their rest journey.
• Life coaches: Support cohort members to process feelings around rest and collaboratively create a plan for their rest journey.
• Other: Provide a healing service not listed above.

Please note if you decide to apply to the ROOT Continuous Sabbatical Fellowship, we will not ask you to support the fellows. However, we still encourage you to fill out the form for future collaborations!

02/28/2024