There’s A World History Museum In Alabama And It’s Full Of Fascinating Oddities, Artifacts, And More
The Berman Museum of World History in Anniston, Alabama, features a unique collection of over 8,000 artifacts from around the world, including WWI and WWII weapons, medieval armor, and Hitler's silver tea service.
A variety of attractions are located throughout Alabama, including several types of museums. One of the state's most unique museums, which features a collection of items you won't find anywhere else in the world, is the Berman Museum of World History. For information about this museum, take a look below.
The Berman Museum of World History is a unique, award-winning museum that's located in Anniston, Alabama.
This one-of-a-kind museum features an extensive collection belonging to Farley and Germaine Berman, which includes more than 8,000 artifacts from around the world.
And finally, one of the most popular items that attracts visitors to Alabama's Berman Museum of World History is Hitler's silver tea service. It's a definite must-see!
Not long after Alabama scientists put Americans on the moon via the Apollo 11 and 12 spaceflights, the space center in Alabama opened its doors. Dr. Wernher von Braun led the Marshall Space Flight Center team in Huntsville to develop the Saturn V rocket, the first ever that was powerful enough to send astronauts to the moon. While working on the Apollo program, von Braun also appealed to the state legislature to create The U.S. Space and Rocket Center. He wanted to create a place where the public could see the space program's work firsthand.
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The U.S. Space & Rocket Center opened in 1970 about six miles north of Marshall Space Flight Center. Since then, more than 17 million people have toured the facility, which is the official NASA visitor center for MSFC. The center is the state's most popular tourist attraction.
While a Saturn V model looms over the property outside, inside you'll find the real deal. There are only three remaining in the world, and it's a National Historic Landmark. The space center is a Smithsonian affiliate museum, and the rocket is the Smithsonian's largest artifact.
Another special exhibit is the Apollo 16 Command Module, named Casper by its pilot, Ken Mattingly, who passed away at age 87 in 2023. Mattingly is also well known for his part in helping the Apollo 13 crew return home safely after a near disaster due to multiple equipment malfunctions.
Also on the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972 were Commander John Young and Charles Duke, Jr. While Mattingly piloted the command module, the other two descended to the moon's surface via the lunar module, Orion. During the mission, Duke became the 10th person to walk on the moon and the youngest, at age 36. Young passed in 2018 at age 87, and Duke is the only surviving crew member at this writing.
Another huge draw to this space center in Alabama is Space Camp, which launched in 1982 and now has over 700,000 alumni from all U.S states and territories and more than 150 countries. I admit being intrigued to learn the camp isn't just for kids! There are sessions for adults ages 18 and over and special training programs for educators.
Space Camp Mission Floor is where you'll find many of the simulators and other equipment for training campers as astronauts do. There is a 1/6th Gravity Chair, Five Degrees of Freedom simuloator and a Multi-Axis Trainer, among others.
In summer 2024 the museum unveils its highly anticipated refurbished Rocket Park, which has been a popular attraction on the grounds for many years. The collection of historic rockets includes the U.S. Army Redstone, Jupiter, Jupiter-C, Juno II, and Mercury-Redstone booster, which were restored by Cosmos Aerospace of Cullman. California billionaire Fred Luddy, founder of the cloud computing company ServiceNow and a Space Camp attendee's father, donated $500,000 for the rockets' restoration.
Several million dollars have gone into the larger project, which includes remounting the rockets, restoration of the Space Shuttle Pathfinder, an amphitheater, and landscaping. Another new feature is a massive engine section of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) core stage pathfinder, an exact replica of the actual hardware used in simulations.
Another must-do experience is The INTUITIVE Planetarium, which recently released a refreshed version of its "Our Place in Space" show. You will feel like you're transported to distant worlds with "The James Webb Space Telescope: The Story Unfolds," show, which features images captured by the most powerful telescope to date.
As you might imagine, the features and activities to be had at this space center in Alabama are vast. Maybe not as seemingly infinite as the cosmos, but I've only pointed a small telescope at it to give you the gist! You'll have to go and explore on your own and report back your favorite parts of the experience.
Plan a full day for exploring the center to the fullest. On that note, if you're looking to stay a while, there are many nice hotels in Huntsville, Alabama near space center attractions or in the heart of the city's vibrant downtown. For a unique stay that gives a nod to the Apollo program era from the 1960s into the mid-1970s, check out this retro-yet-updated geodesic dome home in a residential area east of downtown.
Uncover the powerful story of the last known slave ship to arrive in the US at Africatown Heritage House, a new museum in Mobile, Alabama. The schooner Clotilda illegally transported over 100 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic to Mobile Bay, arriving on July 9, 1860. Five years later the Civil War's end brought freedom to these men and women. Sadly, they could not afford passage back to their homeland. Instead, they set up a community now called Africatown, which is on the National Register of Historic Places and a UNESCO Site of Memory.
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In early 2018, Alabama journalist Ben Raines discovered the Clotilda's wreckage in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta. Low tides revealed parts of the ship, and researchers went to work to confirm the find. The Alabama Historical Commission made it official the following year.
While word is still getting out about the new museum, Africatown Heritage House quickly garnered national acclaim after it opened in July 2023. National Geographic named it the Best Museum Opening of 2023. It also earned the ninth spot in USA Today's 2024 10Best Readers' Choice Awards for Best New Museum. Let's get a glimpse into what you'll find there.
When you arrive, a thoughtful art installation welcomes you to the grounds museum grounds. The sculpture "The Memory Keeper," is the work of artists Charles Smith and Frank Ledbetter.
Inside, the 2,500-square-foot multi-sensory exhibition guides you through a chronological exploration of the captives' West African origins, Africatown's founding, and the Clotilda discovery. The narrative culminates in a forward-looking reflection on Africatown's future and continued preservation. There is also space dedicated for guests to reflect and share insights about their experience.
You'll learn about a significant leader in Africatown's development, Kossola (Cudjoe) Lewis. A Yoruba man from present-day Benin, Africa, Lewis was among the enslaved people who made the 72-day passage aboard the Clotilda. He was Africatown's storyteller and helped found the town as well as the Union Baptist Church, where a monument of him stands today.
Lewis passed in 1935, and his gravesite is in the Old Plateau Cemetery, the Africatown Graveyard. He was our nation's last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade.
Many partnerships and collaborations went into the new Africatown Heritage House and exhibition. The Mobile County Commission and the City of Mobile funded the building's construction. The History Museum of Mobile brought its expertise in curating and funding the Clotilda exhibition as well as operating the museum. For the exhibition, The Alabama Historical Commission loaned pieces of the Clotilda recovered from the ship's wreckage.
We know you'll be moved by this compelling exhibit at the new museum in Mobile, Alabama. You can find current operating hours for Clotilda: The Exhibition at Africatown Heritage House on the museum's website. Keep up with the latest lecture events and other educational opportunities by following the Clotilda exhibition Facebook page.
If you're intrigued about this era of history and like to learn through delicious food (who doesn't?), you absolutely must check out this Masterclass with Micheal W. Twitty, a James Beard Book Award-Winning Author of The Cooking Gene. Twitty wrote the book after many years of researching his African American heritage and how it shaped his tastes and modern-day menus. There's even one class that focuses specifically on the foodways of the transatlantic slave trade.
We'd love to hear what you create in your own kitchen and the insights you gain when visiting Africatown Heritage House.
