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The latest on Columbus' new Black history museum

Alissa Widman Neese

Snow-covered brick building with green awnings and signs announcing the future site of Poindexter Village Museum and Cultural Center in cloudy weather. — One of two remaining Poindexter Village buildings, at 290 N. Champion Ave. Photos: Alissa Widman Neese/Axios

Surrounded by blocks of matching, modern apartments, two historic brick buildings on Champion Avenue stand as anchors to another era.

Why it matters: They're the last remnants of Poindexter Village, one of the country's first public housing projects and a cornerstone of the local Black community.

They'll soon house the Poindexter Village African American Museum, preserving the structures and an important story of community and hope in King-Lincoln Bronzeville.

The latest: Progress remains on schedule for a May 6 museum groundbreaking, Ohio History Connection spokesperson Neil Thompson tells Axios.

Catch up quick: President Franklin D. Roosevelt came to town to dedicate the once-sprawling Poindexter Village federal housing project in 1940.

It was named for the Rev. James Preston Poindexter, a prominent local abolitionist and longtime pastor of Second Baptist Church in King-Lincoln Bronzeville.
The site once housed 35 buildings, but the area suffered from disinvestment.
Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority demolished most beginning in 2013 and replaced them with contemporary housing.

Red brick building with colorful stained glass windows and green door canopies, snow on ground and canopies, a sign reading "Windows of Stories Youth Art Challenge" and address 290 N. Champion. — Art by Columbus City Schools students fills the Champion Avenue building's windows as an homage to famed Black artist Aminah Robinson, who grew up in Poindexter Village.

Friction point: Preservationists wanted more buildings saved, but to manage costs, the authority ultimately settled on two connected by a courtyard.

Follow the money: The Ohio History Connection acquired them in 2017 and began planning the $25.9 million museum with the James Preston Poindexter Foundation.

Last year, they hired local architect Moody Nolan, the country's largest Black-owned firm, to design it.

Zoom in: Specifics will be revealed in May, but plans include a recreated 1940s apartment, interactive exhibits and community gathering spaces.

The museum is also expected to connect to the adjacent Union Grove Baptist Church, which Poindexter helped organize in 1888.
Ultimately, the goal is to "link the national history of public housing and Black heritage to Ohio," per a history connection statement.

What they're saying: "It really helped shape the city, and especially those neighborhoods on the Near East Side, after the 1940s," Thompson says.

"It provided stability, it provided community — for the residents of that time and then for generations of residents thereafter."

What's next: The museum is expected to open in early 2028 as the Ohio History Connection's 59th historic site statewide.

Snow-covered sidewalk between bare trees and residential buildings, with a historic red brick Poindexter Village building ont he left and and modern multi-story homes on the right, under an overcast gray sky in winter. — The Poindexter Village buildings, left, stand in contrast to the modern apartments surrounding it.

Snow-covered ground with two red brick buildings, one with stained glass windows and the other with white columns, under a cloudy sky in a quiet street corner. — The Union Grove Baptist Church, right, which Poindexter Village namesake, the Rev. James Preston Poindexter, helped organize. The two buildings will be connected, per the museum's plans.

Brick building with two brown doors under a snow-covered green awning. Colorful murals decorate four windows. Snow covers the ground and window ledges. — Poindexter Village was "the kind of community where hard-working families flourished," Aminah Robinson said.

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The latest on Columbus' new Black history museum

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