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AAHRC

African American Historical Research and Consulting

It all begins here! AAHRC - African American Historical Research and Consulting is here to provide you with the administrative and planning assistance needed to develop African American family histories, oral histories, exhibits, digital humanities projects, grants for nonprofit organizations, virtual tours for historic sites, historic African American landscapes surveys, structure reports, historical markers, National Register survey projects, and historic structure reports. We also provide Acting and Interim Executive Director Services for organizations and museums that represent African American history and culture. Fill out the form below to get started.

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About

BRANDON A. OWENS, SR., PH.D.
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

With years of experience coordinating African American public history and cultural heritage programs and projects, Dr. Brandon A. Owens, Sr. founded AAHRC – African American Historical Research and Consulting, LLC. He is responsible for the overall leadership and strategic plan of the company. Dr. Owens is Director of the J. F. Drake Memorial Learning Resources Center and State Black Archives Research Center & Museum at Alabama A&M University. Prior to joining Alabama A&M University, Dr. Owens served as associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs, dean of the John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library, and assistant professor of history at Fisk University, where he implemented several technological advancements to support the strategic mission of the University.

During his tenure at Fisk, Dr. Owens secured over $2.5 million in grants and contracts to support historic preservation, digitization, and public access to archival materials. He also played a key role in the successful reaffirmation of its accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in December 2022.

Prior to Fisk, Owens served as the access services/cultural heritage manager for the Levi Watkins Learning Center at Alabama State University. In this role, he managed the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture; helped coordinate construction for the $5 million interpretive center on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail; and assisted in the preservation, restoration, and interpretation of two historic house museums on campus--the home of civil rights leader Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy and the birth-home of world-renowned singer Nat King Cole. In addition, Dr. Owens was director of tourism for Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and Parsonage Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, the only church where Martin Luther King, Jr. pastored, and his home that was bombed by segregationists in retaliation for the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Dr. Owens has served on the Board of Directors for the Alabama Historical Association, the Black Heritage Council of the Alabama Historical Commission, and the Executive Board of the Tennessee Library Association. He most recently served as a member of the Board of Directors for Nashville’s Metro Historical Commission Foundation, the Nashville City Cemetery Association, and the first African American President-Elect of the Tennessee State Library and Archives Friends.

Dr. Owens holds a B.A. in history from Fisk University, an M.A. in history from Alabama State University, and a master's degree in library science (MLS) and Ph.D. in public history from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU).

Current Clients

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Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and Parsonage Museum

Valued Client

The Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and Parsonage in Montgomery, Alabama, appear as they did when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor, from 1954-1960. We worked with church leaders to create 3D virtual tours for the interpretive center, church, and parsonage. This project allowed the church’s tourism ministry to not only survive, but thrive amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Tennessee State Museum

Consulting Services

The Tennessee State Museum received a grant from the Civil War National Heritage Area to develop a new traveling trunk in their hands-on "Tennessee Traveling Trunk" program for 8th grade students with a focus on the history of Black Tenne