Wilmington, Delaware, August 1, 2024 – The Delaware Historical Society has selected Hannah Grantham as the new Director of the Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage.
Grantham, a public historian with a background in musicology and museum work, most recently served on the Music and Performing Arts curatorial team at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington, D.C. Her research interests center on music’s material culture and twentieth-century Black music.
The Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage offers an expansive exploration of the African American experience from 1639 to the present through artifacts, oral history interviews, music, and art.
The Mitchell Center honors Jane and Littleton Mitchell who dedicated their lives to pursuing equal rights and opportunities for African Americans and aims to collect, preserve, research, and present for public enrichment the history and heritage of Delaware’s African Americans.
According to Delaware Historical Society Executive Director Ivan Henderson, “We are thrilled to welcome Hannah Grantham as the new Director of the Mitchell Center. Her academic background and her curatorial experience will advance our ongoing work to share the history of Delaware’s African Americans and to engage the larger community in the present-day. We look forward to Hannah’s vision for advancing the Mitchell Center as a space to facilitate important discussions through innovative events and programs.”
Grantham holds a B.A. in Musicology from the University of North Texas and a Master of Music (M.M.) degree in Musicology from the University of South Dakota. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in History from the University of Delaware.
As she prepares to lead the Mitchell Center starting August 5th, Grantham will rely on her background working across the history of social, political, and material cultures.
“As the new Director of the Mitchell Center, I’m looking forward to growing the Center’s capacity as a gathering space for Delawareans to engage with the state’s rich African American history and culture. I’m excited to work with Kobe [Baker, Outreach Coordinator] and my colleagues at the DHS to produce robust programming, exhibitions, and educational experiences that uplift and celebrate almost four hundred years of African American life in Delaware. History is an important part of our everyday lives, and I want to position the Mitchell Center as an important place for local residents and out-of-state visitors alike to reflect and have conversations about the complex relationships between Delaware’s past and present while imagining new futures for how we might build a more empathetic community,” she said.
About the Delaware Historical Society
The Delaware Historical Society is a non-profit organization that preserves, promotes, and shares Delaware’s history in a welcoming environment to educate, inspire, and empower people and communities. The Delaware Historical Society owns and operates the Delaware History Museum; the Jane and Littleton Mitchell Center for African American Heritage; a nationally recognized Research Library; Old Town Hall; Willingtown Square, four 18th-century houses surrounding a picturesque urban courtyard located in downtown Wilmington; and the National Historic Landmark Read House & Gardens located in New Castle. For more information, call (302) 655-7161, email deinfo@dehistory.org, or visit www.dehistory.org.
Facebook: @dehistory
Instagram: @delawarehistoricalsociety
