There are classes offered in dancing, drama, drumming, photography, and visual art that are focused on African American culture.

When Keil, a Catholic priest, was assigned to St. Peter Claver Church in Macon, he thought the city would be the perfect place for the museum, given its central location and access to interstates.

In 1981, after consulting with various African American community leaders, he found a building on Walnut Street, made the down payment and personally signed for a loan, confident that others would contribute.

History books tended to overlook the triumphs of black Americans.”[6] He credited many with offering ideas for the museum and helping to get it up and running: high school principal Gloria Washington; Mercer University professor Bobby Jones; contractor and county commissioner Albert Billingslea, as well as his wife Margaret; Pearlie and John T Oliver, a bank vice president and state government official, respectively; and Maureen Walker, then director of the Ruth Hartley Mosley Center, who encouraged him to go for it.

[7] The Tubman museum offers an array of galleries and exhibitions, including From Africa to America a mural by contemporary Macon artist Wilfred Stroud.

It also offers galleries such as I Dream a World: Portraits of Black Women Who Changed America and Sankofa: A Century of African American Expression in the Decorative Arts.