Oakland Public Library (N. Calif. Ctr. for Afro-American Hist. & Life)

The African American Museum and Library at Oakland will establish an education center to provide 300 history and social studies 8th grade students with a comprehensive understanding of the career roles and responsibilities of museum professionals. The education center will use distance learning and hands-on museum workshop sessions to allow students to explore the areas of exhibition design, preservation, interpretation, conservation or public relations. The goal of the center is to help develop and prepare a future pool of African American men and women to sustain our historical and cultural institutions into the 21st century. The education center will also serve as a repository of curriculum materials for high school teachers supporting the new state history and social studies curriculum standards. The institution's permanent history exhibition, "Visions Towards Tomorrow: Oakland's African American Community," will provide the content for the creation of the educational materials.