Philadelphia museum celebrates Black history while giving unfiltered glimpse into slavery
It's an unassuming, small museum in Germantown. Just two rooms packed with powerful artifacts that reflect the extremely painful history of slavery in America.
This is the Lest We Forget Museum of Slavery, fittingly named as we navigated unforgettable, heart-wrenching moments on our tour.
The museum is located on Germantown Avenue at Church Lane and right now accepts tours by appointment only, according to its website.
Chains and shackles, along with many images, provide a ghastly depiction of how slaves were bound. There is a plethora of artifacts collected by Gwen Ragsdale and her husband over decades.
"We're the only slavery museum in Philadelphia and the only museum with actual artifacts from the transatlantic slave trade," Gwen said. "My husband, Justin Ragsdale, is the founder of this museum; he started collecting slave objects over 60 years ago."
It all started with this innocuous trunk that Justin grew up seeing in his Uncle Bub's house in South Carolina when he would visit as a boy.
"It was this shackle that he found in his Uncle Bub's trunk," Gwen Ragsdale said. "That was the shackle that inspired my husband to want to collect more slave shackles."
This is an extensive collection that doesn't sugarcoat slavery and its impact throughout hundreds of years. Some images are so disturbing there's even a warning sign posted in the museum for those who come to visit.
"But that warning sign is to prepare some of the people who bring their young children here, who may not be aware of the horrendous things that happened during slavery," she said.
Maria Castillo and her 3-year-old daughter were in town and visiting the museum.
"It's very informative," Castillo said. "I'm not angry, it's just shocking."
Every tour ends with the wall of success – African Americans who have graced the world with their contributions, including many female trailblazers.
From a painful past to the breakthrough of a more promising future, lest we forget.
"Today we are standing up together with faith, power, and strength," Gwen Ragsdale said. "We must remember the legacy of slavery, lest we forget."