Our History. Our Culture. Our Legacy.

The African American Heritage Foundation of Southeastern, NC Inc. and its principal component, the African American Heritage Museum of Southeastern North Carolina, as a premier cultural and educational organization, will preserve and tell the multi-faceted story of the African American experience in southeastern North Carolina as a unique feature of North Carolina history and African Diasporic heritage. As a result, the foundation will instill a greater understanding of and appreciation for the role of African Americans in the region.

We believe in the dignity of all persons. We believe that honesty and respect must characterize everything we do.We believe that education, broadly defined, is the foundation upon which freedom and democracy are built. We believe that enhanced understanding of African American heritage leads to improved relationships among people of diverse races, ethnicities, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds.

The African American Heritage Foundation of Southeastern NC, Inc through its principal component--the African American Heritage Museum of Southeastern NC--will tell the African American story within North Carolina and the African Diaspora. Among its endeavors, the foundation will sponsor a museum that will serve as a repository for artifacts and memorabilia. The museum will serve as a space for traveling exhibitions, offering the region a center for education, cultural enrichment and entertainment for every age. Through it we will retell the stories that shaped our community’s rich heritage.

The African American Heritage Foundation of Southeastern NC (AAHFS) and its museum will honor the centuries of experiences of people of African origins in the Americas -- a story that embodies a society of people, both free and enslaved, including paramount events and notable personalities that shaped regional and American history. AAHFS will present the life, culture, facts, and events central to the African American experience. 

AAHFS will promote, preserve, interpret and present African American history and culture through collaboration with other individuals, organizations and institutions, locally and globally.