A More Inclusive Era of the Du

In 2022, over Juneteenth weekend, The DuSable Museum of African American History embarked on a transformative journey after more than 60 years, marking a new era as The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center. The new name serves as a powerful reiteration of our commitment to educate all people about Black history, culture, and experiences. It also acknowledges the rich tapestry of global connections and diverse cultures among Black people across the Diaspora.

To support a more inclusive era, our re-brand was set out to support the modernization and future of the DuSable Museum—as a national authority and destination for education and celebration of Black people and culture. We also set out to help connect a broader audience of people to the dynamic offerings at our renowned institution.

Black lives and Black experiences are integral to understanding the world we live in today and deserve to be more than a mere footnote in history. The work we do at the museum helps rectify centuries of misinformation and minimization of these crucial aspects of history, and we are committed to continually enhancing incomplete curriculums and taking charge of the narrative to ensure our history becomes not only more accurate but also more accessible.

Design Approach

To establish our visual identity, we leaned into the vibrant, celebratory, inclusive, proud, and knowledgeable traits of the museum and reflected it in a bold and modern color palette drawn directly from the Black Diaspora for our overall re-brand efforts.

For our primary colors, we chose modernized versions of the museum’s original brown and green color palette. Brown symbolizes its connection to Black representation, which is the core of the museum. Blue and Ivory represent the Black experience, nodding to “Wade in the Water” – a song originating from slavery with messages of hope and freedom.

The jewel tones in the secondary palette take inspiration from Africa, where many jewels including emerald and sapphire are mined. Jewel tones also signify royalty, wealth, and status, tying to the emphasis on Black excellence and power. We rounded out our color palette with bright accents to represent joy, love, and inclusion, all of which you feel when you step foot into the museum.