SAAACAM was founded in 2017 by National Humanities Award Winner Everett Fly and community advocate George Frederick. Ironically, the birth of SAAACAM was prompted by the San Antonio Tricentennial Celebration when, at the onset, the only mention of the Black heritage of San Antonio was George Gervin and the San Antonio Spurs and the period of the enslavement of African descendants.

We have come a long way since the volunteer board opened a historic home on the Eastside once a month to the public. SAAACAM now has nine full-time employees, six part-time employees, and 53 collections in our archive and growing. We offer at NO CHARGE to the public a small exhibit space open seven days a week, a minimum of two monthly community programs, Teaching 4 Black Lives Matter study group leader/founder for the San Antonio Zinn Education Project with local educators, curriculum provider for home school educators, SAISD and local charter schools; saving African American cemeteries in Bexar, Atascosa, and Guadalupe Counties. We have eight pop-up exhibits that cover varied topics available to non-profits for a limited time at no charge.

With our community accessibility model, we are tasked to find sustainable revenue streams for SAAACAM. We have several ways of bringing in revenue:

Black History River Boat Tours, Public and Charter
City Cemetery #3 and Eastview Cemetery Tours, Public and Charter
Walking Tours, (NEW) Public and Charter
Pop-up Exhibit Rentals
Memberships
Donations
Sponsorships

Our new endeavor to purchase the Kress-Grant Building will provide additional revenue streams while providing increased accessibility for the community. The SAAACAM Cultural Center will provide the community with 20,000 square feet of exhibitions, a research library, two classrooms, an auditorium, and a unique event space. SAAACAM will be able to charge rentals to organizations for earned revenue. Also, we will no longer need to pay rent in two places (offices and exhibit space) and rent spaces for our programs.

2024 SAAACAM Legacy Awards Ball