Volunteers in Sacramento are sounding the alarm over the possible closure of the Sojourner Truth Museum, the only museum in the region dedicated to Black history. The institution, located on Florin Road, is facing a serious funding shortfall that has left its future uncertain, and the warning comes just as the community marks Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.
The museum was opened around 30 years ago by local activist Sean McDaniels and has since become a cornerstone for preserving and sharing Black history in the Sacramento area. It remains the only museum of its kind in the region, which gives it a singular role in telling stories that might otherwise go untold and in offering local residents a place to learn about that history.
At the heart of the current crisis is a sharp drop in grant and sponsorship funding. Volunteers say the museum keeps applying for grants but continues to be turned down, leaving it without a reliable source of income. The repeated denials have made it increasingly difficult to keep the doors open and to plan with any confidence for the years ahead.
The struggle is not unique to Sacramento. Volunteers note that it reflects a wider trend across the United States, where a number of museums have been losing out on funding in recent years. For smaller, community-focused institutions like the Sojourner Truth Museum, the loss of grants and sponsorships can be especially damaging because they have fewer ways to make up the difference.
Beyond grants, the museum relies on money from visitors and from donations, but volunteers say attendance has been disappointing. They report that many people who live just blocks away are not even aware the museum exists, which has made it much harder to build the steady stream of visitors and support that the institution needs to stay afloat.
That lack of awareness has been a long-running challenge. One volunteer recalled that when they first became involved, people would ask where the museum actually was, and some even assumed that the murals painted on the outside wall were the museum itself, rather than the collection and exhibits housed inside the building.
Despite the difficulties, the museum has grown considerably since it began. It started out at roughly 800 square feet back in 1996 and has since expanded to more than 4,000 square feet. It currently operates inside a shared building, but volunteers say they hope to eventually secure their own space so they can keep expanding. For now, they are urging the public to visit and to donate to help keep the museum alive.