VCU news

By Brian McNeill

Crystal M. Moten, Ph.D., the curator of collections and exhibitions at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, will deliver VCU Libraries’ annual Black History Month Lecture at 7 p.m. on Feb. 4 at James Branch Cabell Library, 901 Park Ave.

Moten’s talk, “Building a Home for Change: The Obama Presidential Center,” will be free and open to the public. Seating is limited. To register, visit the event webpage.

Moten will provide an overview of the Obama Presidential Center focusing on its museum exhibits and how they are rooted in a larger, complex discussion about democracy. She also will highlight the historical predecessors who made Barack and Michelle Obama’s stories possible, and will share the museum’s storytelling goals as they relate to the events, policies, challenges and accomplishments of the Obama presidency.

The Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to open in Chicago in spring 2026. Through its mission, museum and programs, it aims to be a physical demonstration of how making change at home is the most meaningful way to participate in democracy and impact the world.

Moten is a public historian, curator and writer who focuses on the intersection of race, class and gender to uncover the hidden histories of Black people in the Midwest. In 2022, Moten joined the Obama Foundation as the inaugural curator of collections and exhibitions on the center’s museum team. She plays a key role in the collaborative effort to complete the design and implementation of the inaugural exhibits while also serving as the primary steward and subject-matter expert of the Obama Foundation Museum Collection. Moten supervises and manages the curatorial team and its activities.

Moten has been researching African American life, history, culture, politics and work for nearly two decades, and she said she sees her work at the Obama center as a “culminating moment in terms of bringing together the personal, professional and the intellectual.”

Prior to joining the Obama Foundation, Moten served as curator of African American history in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington. There, she stewarded collections as they related to the history of African Americans in business and labor; collaborated on exhibitions; wrote for the museum’s blog; and helped start, produce and host “Collected,” a Smithsonian podcast on African American history. She also reviewed and appeared in documentaries for the Smithsonian Channel, including “She the People: Votes for Women.”

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Moten has taught at colleges and universities across the country, including the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Dickinson College; Macalester College; and American University. Her research has appeared in books, journals, documentaries and other media.

A lifetime member of the Association of Black Women Historians, Moten serves on the board of directors for the Midwestern History Association and the Labor and Working Class History Association; the executive committee of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History; as well as the board of editors for the American Historical Review.

Her most recent, award-winning book is “Continually Working: Black Women, Community Intellectualism and Economic Justice in Postwar Milwaukee” (Vanderbilt University Press, 2023).

She earned her undergraduate degree in African American studies and anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis, followed by a master’s degree in African-American studies and a doctorate in history, both from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  

VCU Libraries’ Black History Month Lecture is supported by the Francis M. Foster Fund. Francis Merrill Foster Sr., DDS, was an assistant professor of general practice dentistry at VCU and a retired Richmond dentist. The unofficial historian of Jackson Ward, Foster was known for his health care advocacy and his desire to improve the lives of those around him.