About AAHI

Who We Are

Welcome to the African American Heritage Center of Delaware — also known as the African American Heritage Institute, or AAHI. Since 2011, we have advocated for awareness, acknowledgement, and celebration of past and present Black history.

While there are many organizations with an interest in the unique African American experience, AAHI has been drawing inspiration and guidance from the past to help our youth live productive lives. Through a variety of programs, we seek to build a positive sense of self using our African American history.

The 1039 Workshop, located at 1039 Clifford Brown Walk, houses our incubator program, where we develop and test onsite and virtual programming. Upon completion of the state-of-the-art African American Heritage Institute at 1043 Clifford Brown Walk (formerly the Allied Kid Building), programs will be scaled and delivered in a building accessible to Eastside residents, Wilmington, New Castle County and Delaware.

We are passionate, culturally-driven historians, community advocates, educators and concerned citizens — bridging the past, preserving the present, and preparing our youth for the future.

Our Mission

Inspire and prepare Delaware's young people

To inspire and prepare young people throughout Delaware for an increasingly diverse world through programming grounded in the history, experiences and achievements of Delaware's African American community. AAHI operates a center that provides educational and personal development programs as part of its commitment to exploring, documenting, preserving, and educating diverse communities about the remarkable African American experience rising out of the Eastside of Wilmington and Delaware.

Our Vision

Knowing our history prepares us for our future

For young people, especially youth in low-income or marginalized communities, learning about the experiences and achievements of ancestors can open hearts and minds to what is possible. By connecting young people more fully to African American history, we seek to open doors and create new pathways to building strong and thriving communities.

Elected Officers