Dr. Charles Smith Education Resources

Dr. Charles Smith is an artist, activist, minister, veteran, and historian. He creates figural sculptures about Black history to create a more equitable representation and educate people about the untold histories of African-American people.

His sculptures show famous events in history, such as the civil rights movement, and scenes from everyday life, like a family eating dinner together. Details are often added to the sculptures in the form of found objects like hats, broken glass, and fabric. Dr. Smith’s artwork, created around his home— first in Aurora, Illinois, and currently in Hammond, Louisiana—is an artistbuilt environment that he titled African-American Heritage Museum + Black Veterans Archive. His museum is always open to visitors.

Dr. Charles Smith was inspired to open a second museum after stopping in Hammond, Louisiana, on his travels. When he stopped, he found a historical marker that included a grave marker titled “Unnamed Slave Boy.” Frustrated by the lack of equal representation in the story on the marker, Dr. Smith moved to Hammond and began his second museum, also titled African-American Heritage Museum + Black Veterans Archive. After Dr. Smith moved to Hammond, more than 500 of his sculptures from the first museum site in Aurora were acquired by other museums across the country.

The art of Dr. Charles Smith acts as both a primary source and a secondary source in teaching Black history. He draws on his own experience as a soldier when depicting scenes of war. Because he was a soldier in the Vietnam War, he acts as a primary source for his art in that case. Because he was not alive during the time of slavery, he acts as a secondary source who researched, then depicted that story.