The Bessie Smith Cultural Center

Mission: To preserve and celebrate African American History and Culture in Chattanooga through art, education, research and entertainment.

The Bessie Smith Cultural Center is a 501(c)3 museum and cultural center providing unique educational experiences based on authentic objects, photos, stories, and lives from Chattanooga’s past.

What is now one organization began as two that were distinctly separate: the Chattanooga African American Museum and Bessie Smith Performance Hall. The Chattanooga African American Museum was founded in 1983 to present the many contributions African Americans made to the development of Chattanooga. In 1996, the Bessie Smith Hall was established to pay homage to the late “Empress of the Blues”, Bessie Smith Hall and quickly became well known in the Chattanooga community as an educational institution and spectacular venue to host performances, banquets, meetings and various community events.

As a result of an extensive strategic planning process and to generate an overall awareness of what the one entity offers to Chattanooga, surrounding areas, and the southeastern region, the Chattanooga African American Museum/Bessie Smith Performance Hall was renamed the Bessie Smith Cultural Center (African American Museum & Performance Hall) in 2009. The center is affectionally referred to as “The Bessie.”

In addition to hosting events and preserving Chattanooga’s African American History through the preservation of artifacts, photographs, and documents, we offer educational programs and opportunities including:

• Tours for Schools – Connect physical artifacts and local stories with lessons being taught in the classroom.
• Lectures and Discussions – Discover History With Panel Discussions and Lecture Series’ With Experts
• Educational Resources For Teachers
• Bessie’s Front Porch – Listen to members of the Chattanooga Community read inspiring children’s stories on Bessie’s Front Porch!
• Oral History Project – Oral stories from influential African Americans in our community.
• Programming For Schools – Customized Programming for schools in our community.