[4][5] After surviving a lynching at age 16 in which two companions died, and subsequently spending five years in prison, James Cameron got an education and spent his life studying the African-American experience in the United States.

He worked in civil rights, wrote independent articles, pamphlets, and a memoir called A Time of Terror: A Survivor's Story.

Then living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1988 he founded his museum with the help of philanthropist Daniel Bader, having collected materials on the African-American experience in the US for many years.

ABHM's facility, located in Milwaukee, is the only memorial and museum that interprets the African American experience in the United States as an ongoing holocaust (series of mass atrocities) from the time of captivity in Africa to the present day.

The museum examines the tragic legacies of slavery and promotes racial repair, reconciliation, and healing through developing awareness and empathy.

The new format came online as a virtual museum on February 25, 2012, in celebration of Cameron's birthday and Black History Month.