“Sweet Auburn Avenue” in the 1950’s

Present day Auburn Avenue

When I first entered the APEX museum, I was prepared for an explicit, uncensored view based upon the notorious gruesome struggles and hard ships that African-Americans have faced. However, upon visiting the first exhibit I experienced a sense of amazement, inspiration, and appreciation toward the many black figures who have shaped the blessed lives of future generations; myself included. As I sat down in the replica of an old street trolley, I received a vicarious view of old Auburn Avenue and felt reminiscent of a time before me. My awareness of the fact that the APEX is placed in a historical area peaked my interest and created a moment of both wonder and reverence.

Beyonce Concert: List of African Americans killed as a result of police brutality

The videos that I watched in this space made me feel like I was there, and I realized that I was virtually in the exact same place that “there” once was. I viewed depictions of the segregated 1950’s through a projector, and understood that this was during my grandparents time and very close to my mother’s. Still situated on the trolley, I compared the past to the present. I thought to myself that I couldn’t imagine living in a time of such hatred and came to the revelation that despite the obstacles we have all overcome, it is not yet over.  I remembered the picture that circulated earlier this year of Beyonce’s concert with the names of all of the black men and women who have been killed as a result of police brutality in just one year. This evoked feelings of sadness and disgust; black leaders both men and women worked tirelessly to rise above their circumstances and we seem to be back pedaling. However, I also thought about how great it is to live in a country and go to a school that I feel is full of diversity.

Cheerful dance in barbershop

Thoughts that the barbershop scene evoked- motown era music

It was very serene to be alone in the room with no one else but two staff members in the entire museum. I was able to be at peace with my thoughts and have a quiet area to indulge in my own observations. Taking the time to process all of the history and information was very intriguing. In the same room was a model of an old black owned barbershop and I appreciated the cheerful scene of a man and woman dancing, while another gentleman played the piano. This conveyed that happiness can derive from several sources, despite contrasting conditions. I was curious as to what they may have been listening to for such a mood to be created. Several artists of the Motown era came to mind: Marvin Gaye, The Marvalettes, Gladys Knight. I also thought of The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Dream Girls, and the Five Heartbeats ; though I wasn’t exactly sure if they were during same time period. I reminisced watching biographic movies about many of these legends thousands of times because I loved the subject matter of such films.

1930’s Marching Band

Phone Invention

When I entered a second exhibit, there were pictures of different historical moments and figures. An image of a marching band from the 1930’s and a dance team at Spellman college fascinated me as I noticed the similarities in culture (clothing, art, dance) from past to present, communicating the strength of tradition. Upon further exploration, I came across a hallway full of various different patents, inventions, and inventors. All of my attention was absorbed into the information and I realized how fortunate I am to take advantage of the seemingly miniscule items mentioned. A remote control, a comb, a life jacket, a phone, even a stoplight. We never really think of how much our daily lives are impacted as a result of these black inventors. I thought about racist and radical movements and groups that still exist today and wondered if they knew the positive influence that African-Americans have on the world. It truly made me appreciate the hard work that shaped so many aspects of my life that I am able to take for granted.

Mailbox

One item here that really stood out to me was a black mailbox with a sign that read “Open to see the next great inventor.” Once opened, there was a mirror inside and I admired the meaningful context of encouragement, despite the lack thereof that once existed. It felt good to know that attitude and hard work are effective methods that contribute to success and I felt inspired by the optimism.

Viewing both the slave ship and the final exhibit of the timeline intermittently, I found myself wondering how it was possible that either could correlate. How could the citizens ruled by Black Kings and Queens of the beautiful country of Africa become slaves hundreds of years later? It just doesn’t seem to match and it amazes me that the most prominent and respected characteristics of one culture, (dark skin, tooth gaps, big lips) are so hated by another. The fact that slaves were shackled laying down with less room than the cargo below is shameful. Seeing this particular area of the museum also made me think of the movie Blood Diamond. It’s set in Africa where young teenagers are raised and brainwashed to become soldiers who savagely kill the people in their own country and enslave them to dig for one of Africa’s most precious resources. I find it sad how we can turn the most beautiful people, regions, and objects ugly based upon greed and carelessness alone. I think again about how lucky I am to live in this time and place where opportunities are placed right in front of me, despite the days that I don’t feel like waking up and getting out of bed to start my day. After leaving here, I really appreciated all that I have and realized how ungrateful we all are at times. This museum evoked many sporadic opinions, thoughts, feelings, and emotions of amazement, anger, nostalgia, sadness, happiness; everything. It was a great experience and I received a great deal of information from it.

Shackled Slaves

Timeline

Front View of the APEX museum

The APEX museum, an acronym for African American panoramic experience, is a historical African American museum located on Auburn Avenue in downtown Atlanta. The outside of the building is structured with reddish-brown bricks and elongated white-framed windows. The positioning of the structure is near the end of a corner, making it easy to miss if you are not actively searching for it. The building is rectangular and slightly slanted as a result of its location on a gradual incline. There is a main entrance and a side entrance that allows access to the building. The main entrance appears to be a shop with a standard gold doorknob attached to brown wooden doors where a sign is hung showing the hours of operation. A glass window takes up about half of the door and “The Apex Museum” is written in the middle in alternating black and white letters, placed inside of a red triangle. To the right of this door are two of the elongated white-framed windows that provide a view of the gift shop, which happens to be where the front view of the building ends.

Gift Shop

Connected to the right end corner of the building (viewed from the front) is a yellow iron frame about 12 feet high designed with various swirls and the word “APEX” written in large letters at the very top. This frame is positioned a few feet in front of the side entrance with a red cement walk way leading up to it. Double wooden doors with two golden handles greet you at this entrance, along with a curved red   awning about 10 feet high displaying “APEX” in bold white letters. Directly in front of this area is a parking lot that only holds about 35 cars, half of which are spaces reserved for employees. I happened to enter through the side entrance and was immediately greeted by a large gold “Welcome” sign placed inside of a world surrounded by smaller blue words in various languages. To the right of this sign is a marbled dark green wall full of small engraved golden plaques. Titled in gold cursive scripture above read

Side view of APEX

“wall of pride.”

Wall of Pride

Old Trolley

I did not realize that the inside of this building was rather small with only one floor set in a sort of circular motion on behalf of the visitors viewing the content. The first exhibit I visited beyond the “Welcome” wall to the right, brought me to a set of brown double wooden doors with gold handles again.  Inside was a replica of an old street trolley from the late 1950’s with the words “ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT CO” written in large green letters on a white background. The trolley had three rows of seven hard green wooden benches about 10 feet wide and a foot apart. On the wall directly behind the trolley, there were signs advertising black owned businesses on a painted brick wall. These signs included “Ray Simmons Shoe Repair,” “Ma’ Sutton’s Restaurant,” and “Joseph Menefee TAILOR.” The trolley was essentially utilized as a theater, positioned in a way to view three 10 minute videos projected onto the wall ahead.

Signs advertising black owned businesses

The videos expressed the history of Auburn Avenue in the 1950’s and beyond. From this, I learned that in 1956 Auburn Avenue was named “the richest negro street in the world” by fortune magazine. Many prominent business leaders also became successful here, including Alonzo F. Herdon who was a former slave that founded Atlanta Life Insurance Company; one of the largest and most lucrative businesses in Atlanta during this time. John Wesley Dobbs, an African- American civic and political leader coined the phrase “Sweet Auburn Avenue,” based upon the flourishing area. Below the wall with the projected video is a replica of an older barbershop. On the far right, a two- dimensional faceless couple is dancing. The man wears a red tie with a black suit and white shirt to compliment the lady’s red dress. To the left of this is an old jukebox, a sink, and a mirror. Here, the artificial figure of a man sits in brown pants and a white collard shirt with criss-cross black suspenders, playing the piano.

Old Barbershop

Mural of Auburn

The last item in this room that I recognized was a vibrantly painted mural of Auburn Avenue on the left wall. The figure of  a man stands on the corner in front of a reddish building with various white-framed windows. He is next to a light pole and the black wheel of a carriage is shown on the corner. Beyond this building is a slimmer gray structure with a pointy triangular top. There is a gray brick road in front of these buildings lined with trees that ends beyond view. The sky displays a few  shades of blue and orange.

The second exhibit brought me through the same doors I entered to an open entrance directly in front of me. Here, I saw a plethora of black and white pictures placed in front of a brick wall aligned with red curtains. These pictures depicted the names, dates, and descriptions of the actions of various black historical figures including Coretta Scott King, Grace Hamilton, and Maynard Jackson. Above these figures, to the left was a silver metal ribbon titled “Hall of Achievement” in cursive blue and red script. The floor was carpeted with a smooth velvety red. On the opposite side, six gold-framed paintings hung on a white wall with black queens placed inside.

African tribal masks

As I exited this room, I was brought in front of a glass case with various African tribal masks and their descriptions. To the right of this was an empty glass case with a picture of the African continent rested on top. The caption read “This case remains empty in remembrance of the art stolen from Africa that now resides in many countries around the world.” Across from the cases were two rectangular canvases placed side by side. The first one showed an old black and white photograph of the APEX museum and had a red strip at the very top with the words “THE WAY WE WERE…” in large white letters. The picture next to it depicted a bustling patriotic city with the same red strip atop, titled “THE WAY WE WILL BE” in the same style.
   

Drugstore

This exhibit placed me down a long hallway with various blueprints of different patents describing inventions and the people who created them. This hallway led me in a circle to the side of the museum where I originally entered. Different exhibits were placed in the open that I had not yet explored. There was a brick drug store with four wooden framed glass windows with “YATES” written in bold white letters at the very top. Two velvet red ropes kept me from entering but inside I could see a gray marbled counter surrounded by wooden shelves filled with various products. A small empty table was placed near the door with black metal chairs.

Hallway of inventions

Blueprint of patents

Across from this exhibit was a slave ship that held two decks. The top deck was expressed with four small canvases depicting the events that occur above. White clouds are painted on a larger blue canvas directly behind these pictures. The first picture is of two white men with blonde hair in matching navy blue shirts with horizontal white stripes and white pants. Two black slaves appear to be battering them. The first man is holding an object for bludgeoning, dressed in only white shorts with no shirt or shoes. The second man is clothed in a gray top and pants with his left fist balled up, placed in a fighting stance. The canvas to the right shows the top of a brown wooden ship with blue waves crashing beyond. There are three white men in a crouching position towards the front. In the background, a white man is holding a black slave. The third and fourth canvases show slaves being thrown off of the ship as a crowd of white men is gathered around.  Underneath the top of the ship, the inside of the decks below are shown. The first section shows a white man with a shotgun in his pants, dressed in a white shirt and boots. He is facing a black woman dressed in an off-white top and skirt with no shoes. Beyond this are the feet in various shades of brown, lying chained in very small quarters. Below these spaces are storage units that hold a barrel, bags, and two chests.

Slave Ship

The final exhibit brought me to a timeline dated from 6500 B.C. to 1913 A.D. The chronological order was expressive of Egypt in Africa and the various Queens, Kings, leaders, warriors, artifacts, and culture. To the right if the timeline is the gift shop where you can also exit. The museum is designed in such a way that when you walk in, you can visit any exhibit first to the right or left. The inside is fairly small and it is essentially a self-tour with no appointed guide, I was in fact the only visitor for the hour. As one travels from each different area of the museum, there is a shift in history. The integral information conveys slavery, segregation, successful black pioneers, and even a modern day depiction of African Americans.

Timeline/Final Exhibit