The Rural African American Museum is a free museum that opened in Opelousas. On Monday, April 29 ‘Friends of the Museum’ is hosting the first Museum After Hours to showcase all that the museum has to offer. The museum spotlights life for blacks in rural Louisiana.        

The artifacts in this museum is a collaboration of items collected over the past 70 years. It highlights many historic things like Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church that was recently burned down a few weeks ago. Many say it’s another reason why it’s important to preserve the past. 

“It’s knowledge. If we forget our past we’re doomed to repeat it,” said Gervis Williams, a museum volunteer. 

He has a passion for spotlighting people, places and things that have made St. Landry Parish home to many.  “After slavery, we didn’t have any documentations of families and records of our families. And so, that’s where most of our history is. It started in the church,” said Williams. 

The information featured in the museum comes from a Plassaince native who has walked this path himself. “For me, I was always curious about what happened in various places and various locations around the world,” said Wilken Jones, the Museum Curator. 

“Things happened 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago…If you don’t record it, and save it, time passes and nobody knows about it,” he added. 

From stories of faith, education, sports and everyday life of black communities in the parish, the museum is working diligently to eventually document things from 1860 through present day. 

“From baptisms, marriages, records of individuals. It’s a beautiful thing that we get to bring all of this culture and heritage back together. It’s a beautiful thing,” said Willaims.

Being that this is a fairly new museum and non-profit organization, they appreciate any donations or other historic items collected from the community. 

The museum was established at its current location in December 2018 and is free to tour.

A GoFundMe account is set up to help Jones and the museum continue its mission to curate historic items and educate the public.