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.
About
BRANDON A. OWENS, SR., PH.D.
FOUNDER, CEO, AND PRESIDENT
With years of experience coordinating African American public history and cultural heritage programs, Dr. Brandon A. Owens, Sr., founded African American Historical Research and Consulting (AAHRC) and currently serves as its CEO and President. AAHRC is dedicated to preserving, exploring, and sharing the rich and diverse stories of African and African American communities worldwide. Through research, consultation, and innovative approaches, AAHRC empowers individuals and institutions to become storytellers and advocates for a comprehensive historical narrative.
Dr. Owens oversees AAHRC's strategic direction while passionately authoring books and articles on African American history and the legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). His work includes significant publications, such as contributions to "Heritage & Honor: 150-Year Story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers" and a forthcoming piece for "Black Profiles in Greatness: A Legacy of Prairie View A&M University" with Texas Tech University Press titled "'Trouble Won’t Last Always:’ The Life and Legacy of Frederick Douglass Patterson." Dr. Owens has books on the 150 Year History of Fisk University’s Library and the 170 year History of Wilberforce University set to be published in the next year.
In addition to his publishing achievements, Dr. Owens has secured numerous grants for historical preservation and digital archiving projects. These include the 2022 NHPRC-Mellon Planning Grant for “Remaking the World of Arturo Schomburg” ($120,000), the Department of the Interior's HBCU Grant for the Administration Building and Erastus Milo Cravath Library ($500,000), and a significant award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for building a portal to Rosenwald Collections at Fisk University ($1,600,000). Other notable grants include the CLIR Digitizing Hidden Collections grant for “Fisk Forever: Digitizing Materials by and about Fisk University” ($180,000) and multiple awards from the Mellon Foundation for various projects, including technical planning for the Julius Rosenwald Collections Portal and developing digital lesson plans for Nashville's historical sites.
Dr. Owens's leadership of AAHRC has led to national recognition by the National Council on Public History with the 2024 Excellence in Consulting Award for a Group Consulting Agency. Dr. Owens continues to shape the academic and cultural landscape, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of African and African American heritage.
Current Clients
Decatur Scottsboro Boys
Civil Rights Museum
Acting Executive Director Services
AAHRC is pleased to offer professional services as Acting Executive Director for the Decatur Scottsboro Boys Civil Rights Museum in Alabama. AAHRC was founded with the intent of helping African American organizations and museums demonstrate stability during periods of transition and unexpected interruptions in leadership. We have the experience, knowledge, and skills needed to fill the void and ensure operations continue to run smoothly, and the Decatur Scottsboro Boys Civil Rights Museum remains compliant with federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and executive orders authorizing historic preservation.
Fisk University Galleries
3D Virtual Tours
From October 6, 2022 to February 12, 2023, Fisk University Galleries presented "African Modernism in America, 1947 - 1967" as the first major traveling exhibition to examine the complex connections between modern African artists and American patrons, artists, and cultural organizations amid the interlocking histories of civil rights, decolonization, and the Cold War. AAHRC captured and preserved the exhibit as a 3D virtual tour before its departure. We are still working with the gallery to add labels, comments, and interactive media but the exhibit is online and available for patrons to visit, browse, and enjoy now!
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and Parsonage Museum
3D Virtual Tours - 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. AAHRC 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. AAHRC continues to host, maintain, and update the virtual tour to offer researchers, teachers, and students a self-guided virtual experience of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Interpretive Center, and Parsonage. The virtual tour is featured on both SouthernLiving.com and CivilRightsTrail.com.
AAHRC EXPERIENCE
Bold 4 Christ Ministries, Original Church of God, & L. M. Swanson's Nursing Home in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee
Historical Markers
Bold 4 Christ Ministries hired AAHRC to write the text, provide the references, and recommend placement of a state historical marker for the Original Church of God or Sanctified Church and L. M. Swanson's Nursing Home in Gallatin, Sumner County, Tennessee. On behalf of Bold 4 Christ Ministries, AAHRC worked with the current pastor, church members, and the Tennessee Historical Commission to successfully navigate the competitive process and meet the specific requirements and timeframe for state approval of a historical marker. The historical marker dedication ceremony was held for the Gallatin Original Church of God's Homecoming on Sunday, August 27, 2023.
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 Tennesseans during the Reconstruction period. We were hired as consultants to provide guidance on the proper interpretation and to bring fresh ideas to the forefront on new stories to tell.
Ransom Temple Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Church Histories
Ransom Temple Cumberland Presbyterian Church needed a thorough investigation of its past through primary and secondary sources to present an engaging yet accurate account of the historical phenomenon involved with the evolution and development of the church.
Client Testimonial
The family of the late Rev. Ralph David and Juanita Abernathy
Genealogical Research and Historical Video Presentation
As a close friend and mentor of Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Ralph David Abernathy played a key role in the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the modern civil rights movement.
AAHRC conducted genealogical research for the Abernathy family and created a historical video presentation in honor of Rev. Abernathy for the family's reunion prior to the passing of its matriarch Juanita Abernathy in 2019.
"The value of preserving my family's history is priceless. Thank you AAHRC for researching, recording, preserving, and sharing my family's roots, plus celebrating both my father and mother's legacy!"
- Kwame L. Abernathy, J.D.
Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy: Ain't Nobody Gonna Turn Me Around (1)
Are you interested in learning more about us?
Address:
1718 Church Street, #331332, Nashville, Tennessee 37203-9998
Email:
Phone:
615-942-0890
