Built in 1908, the two-story, white-columned building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

At the time, FAMU's predecessor, the State Normal and Industrial College for Colored Students, was in need of a new library.

[5] The museum's exhibits focus on African American history in Florida, including the contributions of the African-American church, educational and social life at Florida A&M University, important figures in politics, science, medicine, and inventors, military experience and more.

The archives were "originally the Carnegie Library", and history professor and lecturer James N. Eaton "had the vision of not only collecting memorabilia but presenting it to the students and the public" in the early ‘ 1970s.

[6] In 2007, the archives was officially named in honor of veteran Florida legislator, retired U.S. Congresswoman and FAMU graduate Carrie P. Meek, who appropriated funds through Congress for the expansion of the facility, and Dr. James N. Eaton, D.H.L., Professor of History/Founder and first Director.