BRYAN, Texas — At the Brazos Valley African American Museum, residents can come in with free admission for Black History Month and learn more about the black community here in Bryan.
The museum is filled with a variety of exhibits, artifacts and resources about national and local figures.
There are new exhibits on the civil rights era as well as older features on influential Brazos Valley educators like Willie A. Taylor, the principal of Lincoln High School in 1946.
Museum Intern, Reagan Smith, helps residents see how this history has made an impact on the present.
“As you can see, you can look at me and think I might not have a connection, but there’s always something to learn," Smith said. "You can look at almost any invention and there’s probably a chance that there was a black connection somewhere or a black inventor started something and that is just really important to our everyday lives, plus it helps you become a well-rounded person in society. If you understand the story of your fellow man, you can understand yourself better and interact better with each other.”
The community is often unaware of these interactive and accessible pieces of history.
Smith described, “The community is always very happy to see new exhibits come out and a lot of time they’re like, 'I didn’t even know this was here,' so it’s a lot of that but we love having people come visit the children get excited when its something that’s on their level that they can understand.”
The museum is also offering a free family history search program that can connect you to your family history.
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