AURORA | The Aurora History Museum opens a new exhibition today exploring Black history in Colorado, with a special focus on the people and stories that have shaped Aurora.
The exhibit, titled “Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History: Aurora,” will remain on display through Nov. 7, according to museum officials.
Created in partnership with the Museum of Boulder, the exhibition adapts the Museum of Boulder’s award-winning “Proclaiming Colorado’s Black History,” which was displayed from 2023 to 2025. While retaining components that examine Black history across the state, the Aurora version adds stories about local community leaders, educators, musicians, culinary artists and other residents, Aurora city library and culture departments spokesperson Abraham Morales said in a statement.
The exhibition features wall panels with photographs and narratives highlighting people, places and events that illustrate the Black American experience in both Aurora and across the state.
“The goal of this project has been to work collaboratively to preserve Colorado’s rich and complex Black histories, sharing them broadly and integrating their stories and broadening our understanding of Colorado,” Aurora History Museum Director T. Scott Williams said in a statement.
Williams said the museum’s mission is to engage the community and celebrate local heritage by sharing the stories of Black Aurorans who have helped shape the city. He described the exhibition as a broad, though not exhaustive, look at the African American experience in Colorado.
Exhibits curator Christopher Shackelford said the display reflects the diversity of Aurora’s Black community.
“There is no single Black experience in Aurora,” Shackelford said in a statement. “By the 21st century, Aurora’s Black community reflected a growing range of cultures, languages and life experiences.”
Shackelford said some Black residents trace their family histories through slavery, Reconstruction, the Great Migration and the Civil Rights Movement, while others immigrated to Aurora from countries around the world. Together, he said, those experiences continue to shape what it means to be Black in the city.
Museum officials said they hope the exhibition will encourage community dialogue and engagement. The museum plans to expand the exhibit as additional stories are collected and reopen it in summer 2027 as an oral history- and artifact-based exhibition. Public opportunities to contribute stories are expected to be offered online and at the museum.
IF YOU GO
The museum, at 15051 E. Alameda Parkway, adjacent to city hall, is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for children ages 3 to 17. For details call 303.739.6660 or visit AuroraMuseum.org.