SAAACAM is raising funds to transform the historic Kress-Grant buildings into what leaders say would become the third-largest African American museum in the nation.
SAN ANTONIO — A local organization is continuing its push to make history in downtown San Antonio.
The San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum, known as SAAACAM, is raising awareness and funds to transform the historic Kress-Grant buildings into what leaders say would become the third-largest African American museum in the nation.
The future home carries deep historical significance. Once a place marked by segregation, it is now envisioned as a space defined by unity. SAAACAM CEO Deborah Omowale Jarmon is moved every time she walks in to the more than 100,000 square foot space.
“Every time I walk in here, it is incredible to me,” she said. “We are in a place where we couldn’t. And now it is a place where we are welcoming everyone.”
SAAACAM owns the historic building, a site that played an instrumental role during San Antonio’s Civil Rights era.
“March of 1960, the lunch counters in San Antonio eight of them were desegregated,” she said.
The five-story building is slated to become a cultural and educational center highlighting African American history and contributions in San Antonio and beyond. The CEO said it would be the third largest African American museum in the nation.
“Right behind the Smithsonian in Washington DC and the Charles Wright Museum in Detroit,” she said. “It is not a small feat.”
The project has been years in the making. Organizers say the goal is simple: to preserve and share the stories that built the community.
“Where else will a child know that there are people that look like me who have done incredible things, who have made this country really what it is?” she said.
Plans for the museum include a free-entry first floor and a recreation of a historic “five-and-dime” lunch counter, where visitors will be able to dine while learning about the desegregation movement in San Antonio.
“We are recreating the ‘five-and-dime’ lunch counter,” the CEO said. “People will be able to come in and grab a bite to eat and learn the history of how the lunch counters were desegregated here in San Antonio.”
The organization is currently in its second phase of fundraising and is asking the community to help bring the project to life.
“No gift is too small. And no gift is too large,” she said.
SAAACAM’s CEO said the space will serve as a collective platform for the city’s stories.
“Our stories are connected,” she said. “We are excited to tell the stories of San Antonio. We are just telling them through the lens of African descendants. But all of us make up this incredible city.”
In addition to exhibit space, plans for the development include event venues, a speakeasy and a boutique hotel on the fifth floor. Organizers said those features would help generate revenue to sustain the museum. The goal is for the space to be completed in 2028.
To see the full renderings of the design, click here.
If you would like to contribute and learn more about the project, click here.
