The Anacostia Community Museum is saddened by the lost one of our Founding Mothers. On March 10, 2022 at the age of 91, ACM's first Education Director Zora Martin-Felton passed away. Zora leaves us with a legacy that, without a doubt, makes our museum what it is today.
She and founding director John Kinard, established the museum at the height of the Black Power era in 1967. It was Zora who curated several of the museum's ground-breaking exhibits - exhibits that reflected the issues that most concerned the communities east of the Anacostia River.
In "Rat: Man's Invited Affliction," she brought live rats to live in the museum to teach neighbors about how to manage the community's excessive rat population. In "Lorton Reformatory: Beyond Time," she provided a platform for incarcerated men to tell their stories through song and drama. At that time, these were topics that were not considered appropriate for museums to display. And she did it in the most inclusive way possible - with the voices of dozens of advisors and community members.
Our thoughts are with her family, friends, and the community. Zora was truly one of a kind.
