Zoning board technicalities shouldn’t close down the cultural treasure that is the Colored Girls Museum

This time last year, Vashti DuBois, founder of the Colored Girls Museum, was named a Philadelphia Culture Treasure for centering the work of Black artists and amplifying the voices of Black women and girls.

On Wednesday, the museum’s future will be in the hands of Philadelphia’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. Last spring, following a complaint, a city investigation found the museum in violation of two codes. The museum doubles as DuBois’ home and under the law, a dwelling in a residential neighborhood can just have one use. Secondly, cultural institutions in residential neighborhoods must be detached. The Colored Girls Museum is housed in a twin.

The zoning board will hear testimony and decide whether to grant the two variances DuBois needs for the museum to remain in the 139-year-old, three-story Victorian home at 4613 Newhall St.

“I’m optimistic the zoning board will find the museum has a positive impact on my neighborhood and the city,” DuBois said. “If we are forced to close, it will be devastating.”

It certainly would be.

I met DuBois seven years ago when I wrote my first article about the Colored Girls Museum, with its wind chimes and tobacco-scented incense. It was a warm drink of apple cider — with whiskey — for my soul. Donald Trump had just been elected president and I, like many Black women, was wondering how much longer America would be a safe place. The museum , DuBois told me, was born out of grief. Her husband died in 2014 and shortly after his death, she almost lost the house, where she raised her three children, to foreclosure.

“The Colored Girls Museum can’t exist in another place because she was born here,” DuBois said. “What nurtured and activated her is what happened in this community. If you evict us from 4613, it’s no longer the Colored Girls Museum.”

Over the years, vibrant portraits, collages, sculptures, and fiber arts by Philadelphia artists like Monna Morton, Denys Davis, Barbara Bullock, Toni Kersey, and Nile Livingston spoke to the protection, praise, and grace of Black women, and not just superstars like Michelle Obama or Beyoncé, but ordinary sisters like the school teacher, the domestic worker, the church lady, the mama, the Big Mama, and the auntie.

With exhibits like “A Goodnight’s Sleep,” “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” and “Sit a Spell,” DuBois invitesd us into her home, sat us down, and told us to take a load off. Over the years, the museum expanded to showrooms in West Philly, the African American Museum, and a terminal at the Philadelphia airport. DuBois also curated an installation for “Legacy Reclaimed: A 7th Ward Tribute Honoring the Past, Illuminating the Future” walking tour, now on display in the gift shop of Mother Bethel Church.

The bond between the museum and the community grew stronger during COVID-19 when DuBois put its exhibitions on Instagram and kept in touch with artists and visitors through Zoom. I live in the neighborhood, and when it was safe, we gathered on DuBois’ porch and wondered. When would we be safe from COVID? When would we be able to mourn together again? When will our people, like George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, stop being murdered by police? Why are we so tired? Will this pain ever end? Neighbors joined us, too.

Leonard and Diane Thompson, who live in the twin next door, wrote a letter to the zoning board in support of the Colored Girls Museum, saying, “In the eight years we’ve been attached to the museum, we’ve never expressed any remorse for being on the other side of its walls.”

Since the Colored Girls Museum opened, it has been featured in Essence and received a nod from the Smithsonian National Archive. DuBois has received grants from the Knight Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, and the Independence Media Foundation. In 2022, DuBois was inducted into the Germantown Hall of Fame and received a Clark Fellowship, one of the most prestigious arts residencies in the country.

The Colored Girls Museum received more than 60 letters of support, letters that DuBois presented to the zoning board. The community has spoken, DuBois said. “They want us here. We are a part of the fabric of Germantown.”

Every Saturday and Sunday, DuBois lights incense, arranges flowers, and sweeps the front steps preparing for visitors. Each time she opens the Colored Girls Museum’s doors, she tells the world — especially Black women and girls — they can achieve their dreams and their ordinary lives matter.

All of this shouldn’t come to an end because of technicalities.