The idea, which rose from a Smithsonian-hosted conference in 1966, came into reality in March 1967, when the Smithsonian acquired the Carver Theater in the Anacostia neighborhood.

The Smithsonian sought community support, and a council of local Anacostia residents came together to advise on the project.

[5][6] Every week, the museum's Neighborhood Advisory Committee[7] of community members would meet to help plan the programming and exhibitions.

[6] That year, the Anacostia Research Center was founded, with funding from the Carnegie Corporation, to create an oral history program.

[11] The Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which consisted of ninety people, was cut down in size and renamed the Board of Directors.

[2] The Fort Stanton building, which opened in 1987, was designed by Keyes Condon Florance, Architrave and Wisnewski Blair Associates.

The design, based on the "cultural expressionism style", aimed to make use of the natural setting it resides in.

The Smithsonian lacked objects in its collections related to African American history and culture, and John Kinard helped encourage other museums to start acquiring such items, such as artwork and pieces owned by Duke Ellington.

[22] It wasn't until 1992 that ACM created its first collections management policy, specifying a focus on the Anacostia neighborhood and surrounding areas.

In 2010, an exhibition Word, Shout, Song: Lorenzo Dow Turner, Connecting Communities Through Language, was held to showcase the collection.

[24] The museum also has a collection of art including work by artists such as James A. Porter, Sam Gilliam, and Benny Andrews.

African American history and art has also been showcased in exhibitions,[6] including subjects such as immigration,[26] slavery,[27] civil rights, and music.

The opening exhibition at the museum, in 1967, featured the reproduction of an Anacostia store front from 1890, a Project Mercury spacecraft, a theater, a small zoo, and a varied collection of natural history objects.

[31] The 1979 exhibition Out of Africa: From West African Kingdoms to Colonization was the first to make use of the museum's budding permanent collection, and Chancellor Williams lectured.

[6][32] The museum closed for little over two months in, from November until January, 1980, re-opening with the exhibition Anna J. Cooper: A Voice from the South.

[36] The Washington region was a focus again with Footsteps from North Brentwood, which discussed the history of Prince George's County, Maryland.

[1] The 2010 exhibition Word, Shout and Song examined the work of Lorenzo Dow Turner and the Gullah language.