Courtesy of NMAAM
One Nation Under a Groove gallery recounts the history of R&B from WWII to present day.
Nashville’s long-anticipated National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM) is now open to the public on a limited schedule.
NMAAM, which recently received a $1 million donation from Amazon and established a music education partnership with Sony Music Group, vividly tells the story of Black culture’s contributions and influences throughout the history of American music.
Once inside the 56,000 square-foot space, patrons can interact with six permanent exhibits that span several centuries and 50 musical genres. The first gallery that visitors will encounter is Rivers of Rhythm, described by NMAAM curator Steven Lewis as the “central space that connects the more genre-focused galleries.” The name of the exhibit, which features an interactive timeline of African-American music, was inspired by the Langston Hughes poem,“The Negro Speaks of Rivers.”