The Griot Museum of Black History

The Griot Museum of Black History is a wax museum in St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1997. Originally named The Black World History Wax Museum, the organization changed its name to The Griot Museum of Black History (“The Griot”) in 2009. In some west African countries, the griot, is a historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet and/or musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition and is often seen as a societal leader who preserves and shares cultural traditions of a community. Likewise, the museum collects, preserves, and shares the stories, culture, and history of Black people with a focus on those with a regional connection to St. Louis. History The Griot is the second African American wax museum in the country, the first being National Great Blacks In Wax Museum in Baltimore. Founder Lois Conley was born in St. Louis and attended Saint Louis University for both her B.A. in Communications and M.A. in education. She also completed a graduate certificate in Museum Studies at University of Missouri–St. Louis . In 2009, the Missouri Humanities Council formed the Urban Museum Collaborative with the Griot and two other St. Louis museums, Eugene Field House Museum and Campbell House Museum , to share resources and.