Bernard and Shirley Kinsey have a passion for African American history, art and culture and one of the largest private collections of African American art, artifacts and documents, spanning 400 years of history.
Amassed during more than four decades of the Kinseys’ marriage, the collection features work by Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence and Richard Mayhew alongside archival material related to Frederick Douglass, Zora Neale Hurston and Malcolm X. The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection, presented by Macy’s, has been exhibited at the California African American Museum, The DuSable Museum of African American History, The Norton Museum of Art, The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The collection has been cited for three national awards one of which includes the President’s National Award for Museum and Library Services.
