The African American Civil War Museum opened its doors Wednesday, Sept. 30, at a renovated 16,000-square-foot home inside the historic Grimke School at 1925 Vermont Ave. NW in Shaw.

The reopening caps a renovation estimated at $8 million when ground was broken in 2019. The project transformed the school building into a modern museum with a new courtyard entrance, elevator access and a Lincoln statue near the front door. Executive Founding Director Dr. Frank Smith, a former Ward 1 D.C. councilmember, and his board raised additional funds to complete the upgrades, according to the Washington Informer. Mayor Muriel Bowser championed securing the city-owned Grimke School site for the museum.

The headline exhibit, "From Slavery to the White House: The USCT Heritage of First Lady Michelle Obama," traces her family lineage through rare documents and photographs to two formerly enslaved ancestors who fought as United States Colored Troops (USCT) soldiers. Caesar Cohen, Obama's great-great-grandfather, served in the USCT's 128th Regiment. Jerry Sutton, the stepfather of her great-grandmother, served in the 55th Regiment. Both names are inscribed on the Wall of Honor across Vermont Avenue, TriceEdneyWire.com reported.

"It's just a lot of names until you find one of them that tells the whole story … It's going to end in the White House," Smith told TriceEdneyWire.com in a Sept. 22 interview.

The permanent "Glorious March to Liberty" exhibit has been refreshed with about 200 new artifacts, including historic weaponry, period uniforms and interactive touch screens. A new genealogy lab lets families search archives and connect with ancestors listed on the memorial.

Dawn Chitty, the museum's director of education, told TriceEdneyWire.com ahead of the reopening that the refreshed exhibit "will be seen in a light it has not been seen before." Chitty said the museum has drawn about 2 million visitors over more than a decade.

The ceremony included performances by the Vermont Avenue Baptist Church Choir and Jazz Quartet, led by Solomon Sparrow, the church's minister of music. Rev. Eugene Lowe, pastor of Goodwill Baptist Church on Kalorama Road NW, delivered the spiritual message.

The Grimke School building, named for Archibald Grimké, who was born enslaved and became the second African American to graduate from Harvard Law School, also houses the VIVA School of Dance and the offices of architects Torti Gallas + Partners. The wider redevelopment, called the 9½ Initiative, includes a rental building called The Thread and a condo building called The Fold along U Street, PoPville reported.

Across the street, the African American Civil War Memorial Wall of Honor bears 209,145 names of Black soldiers and their officers. Guinness World Records recognized it on Feb. 1, 2024, as having the most names on a war memorial.

Admission is free.

The museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week, closed Sundays. The nearest Metro stop is U Street–African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo on the Green and Yellow lines. A larger grand reopening celebration is planned around Veterans Day, Nov. 11, when the museum traditionally hosts its "Reading of the Names" of all 209,145 USCT members inscribed on the memorial.