After long search, Charleston’s International African American Museum names new CEO
After a national two-year search, the International African American Museum in Charleston has a new chief executive.
The museum’s board selected Tonya M. Matthews for the top leadership role and announced the news on Wednesday.
Matthews, 46, comes to the job with more than a decade of experience in museum management and a background in diversity initiatives. She was most recently an associate provost at Wayne State University in Detroit, where she was also the director of the school’s STEM Innovation Learning Center.
The announcement Wednesday comes nearly two years after the museum’s previous executive and president, Michael Boulware Moore, resigned. At the time, he said the CEO who ended up running the museum should have a role in building it.
As Matthews takes the helm, construction on the museum’s sacred grounds continues. On a recent day, masons could be seen laying light sand-colored bricks at the waterfront site that was once part of Gadsen’s Wharf. It is where more than 40% of the nation’s enslaved people arrived in Charleston.
Today, millions of African Americans can trace an ancestor back to this place, including Michelle Obama, the former first lady.
Former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley envisioned this museum rising on Charleston’s peninsula more than 20 years ago.
It is now set to open in early 2022.
In a statement, Matthews said the museum is “poised to be a critical global treasure” and said she felt both “humbled and compelled” to become its CEO.
“I am excited to stand with the people of Charleston as we steward this sacred site and the often-silenced stories of American history — both the horrific and the victorious — that continue to challenge our efforts to create a more perfect union,” Matthews said. “This is a national story with global impact, and we look forward to engaging the critical partnerships and support that are needed to help us sustain this work.”
When it opens, the museum will be an epicenter for exploring and sharing the pivotal story of how African Americans shaped the world.
Through gallery spaces, visitors will learn about the Middle Passage, the African American diaspora and how African Americans shaped the economic and cultural development of both Charleston and America.
A statement from the International African American Museum called finding Matthews “the final piece” of the decades-long project.
IAAM Board Chairman Wilbur Johnson said the board focused its executive search on finding someone who could not only lead the project, but who could inspire.
Riley, a lifetime board member who has called the museum “his life’s most important work,” said he was thrilled with Matthews.
“We’ve attracted a world-class, experienced museum executive to run the museum,” Riley said. “Somebody was saying yesterday, ‘We’ve got all the pieces in place.’ We raised the money. We have had really world-class architects and landscapers who designed a beautiful building… but we haven’t had a permanent leader for a while. Now we do.”
Matthews said her previous experiences with history museums and organizational diversity and inclusion have prepared her for this job, which she considers her greatest mission.
From 2008 to 2013, Matthews was vice president of museums at the Cincinnati Museum Center. With more than 1.7 million visitors per year, it is the city’s largest cultural institution. In that role, Matthews oversaw the center’s three museums — a history museum, a natural history museum and a children’s museum. She also helped oversee a budget of $27.5 million.
Its mission was to inspire people of all ages to learn more about the world through regional history and science.
She also was part of the leadership team that merged the museum center with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. But her greatest accomplishment, Matthews said, was creating a partnership with the National Museums of Kenya that allowed Cincinnati-area middle school students to connect with peers in Lamu, Kenya.
After leaving Cincinnati, she became president and CEO of the Michigan Science Center.
In that role, she transformed the 80,000-square-foot facility from the locally respected Detroit Science Center to a statewide hands-on learning center.
From December 2018 to July 2019, Matthews served as acting Director of Inclusion for the American Alliance of Museums, an organization that has been bringing museums together since 1906.
Matthews will be the IAAM’s second CEO.
This story was originally published March 24, 2021 at 1:44 PM.
