By: Norma Adams-Wade
Congratulations still are in order for Arthur Fleming of Dallas — long-time civil and human rights advocate and former NAACP Dallas Chapter President.
Fleming was inducted recently into the Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library. This cultural trophy is at 441 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Waxahachie, about 27 miles south of Dallas and about 15 miles west of Flemings hometown of Ennis, Texas. The induction was held at First United Methodist Church of Waxahachie’s Family Life Center.
The Feb. 22, 2025 ceremony was part of the museum’s annual Hall of Fame Induction and Scholarship Luncheon Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II, who lives in Kansas City, spoke at the ceremony, bringing his considerable political experience to the occasion. Cleaver also is a United Methodist minister, the first African American Mayor of Kansas City, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and interestingly is a cousin of the late writer and Black Panther leader, Eldridge Cleaver.
Fleming one of six inductees
Fleming was one of six current and posthumous persons who were honored for making their mark on African American history in various fields. Others who were added to the museum’s Hall of Fame are Walter Beasley, Aydric Griffin, Josie Hall, Jack Jackson, and Heman M. Sweatt (some records erroneously spell Sweatt’s first name as “Herman”).
Fleming has said in previous Texas Metro News interviews that he is a Viet Nam veteran, descendant of sharecroppers, and 1969 graduate of Ennis High School in Ennis. He studied Business at East Texas State University and became an outspoken NAACP Dallas chapter president.
One of his many civil and human rights battles while President was when he helped lead demonstrations in 2015 to have Confederate monuments and symbols removed from public places.
He said those symbols of inequality were more appropriately displayed in private facilities such as museums and private institutes.
Fleming said his years overseas gave him a different perspective of America. When he returned from VietNam, he saw more clearly the conditions of African American and he made a decision. He chose to join the NAACP and fight for equality. He steadily moved up the ranks and became NAACP Dallas chapter president.
“I decided if I can fight for America, surely I can fight for Black Folks,” Fleming recalled.
Nation’s Black History Museums
Fleming being inducted into his home county’s African American Hall of Fame and museum helped spotlight that particular small-town cultural gem. I was just thinking…
How many more of these delightful hidden treasures of African American history are there tucked away in quiet communities?
Locals know of them and appreciate them. More tourists, perhaps, should know about these sites and cash in on the bonus of visiting them when at Grandpa and Grandma’s house back home.
A little research revealed that among the nation’s 4,756 history museums, about 109 of them focus on African American history and culture. The nation’s first was College Museum – later named Hampton Museum — established in 1868 on the Hampton University campus in Hampton, VA.
Some of the nation’s more prominent African American museums include African American Museum in Philadelphia, DuSable Museum of African American History in Chicago, National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Studio Museum in Harlem, National Museum of African American Music in Nashville.
There also is Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Negro League Baseball Museum in Kansas City … and, of course, the outstanding National Museum of African American History and Culture in the nation’s Capital.
The African American Museum in Dallas is #14 on a chronological listing by years when each African American museum in the nation was created – from the first in 1868 on through the most recent being the Rural African American Museum created in 2018 in Opelousas, Louisiana. Since current research was finished, maybe one or two African American museums may now have been added or be in the works.
The African American museum in Dallas opened at Bishop College in 1974 then moved to Fair Park and dedicated its new state-of-the art Building in 1993. A common trait for all of these hidden treasures, though, is the unending search for funding, and the reality that any non-private sources of funding are the first to disappear when finance deficits compel governments to reduce spending.
Ellis County African American Museum and founder Dr. Jamal Rasheed
Thanks goes to one man in particular for the existence of the Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library in Waxahachie. The Hall of Fame museum founder, president, and Chief Executive Officer is Dr. Jamal Rasheed.
The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity member was born in Memphis, raised on the southside of Chicago, and earned degrees from two universities. He then earned his Ph.D. in African American ministry from Newburgh Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana.
Dr. Rasheed opened the Hall of Fame in 2016. The facility originally was the Colored Knights of Pythias Hall built in 1926 that later became the also historically-Black Prince Hall Masonic Lodge.
Even more African American history is across the street at the Freedman Memorial monument honoring formerly enslaved Africans and their descendants in America. Also across the street is the 8/47 Monument, the latter honoring 19 men who perished Aug. 5, 1947 in what local historical documents describe as “the worst recorded automobile accident in Ellis County.”
As I suggested earlier, keep your eyes on these hidden gems in quiet communities. They are indeed hidden treasures. To learn more about the Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library, visit https://ecaamuseum.org. You may email Dr. Rasheed at jamal5@sbcglobal.net. Phone the office at 214-980-1011.
Norma Adams-Wade, is a proud Dallas native, University of Texas at Austin journalism graduate and retired Dallas Morning News senior staff writer. She is a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. norma_adams_wade@yahoo.com.
