Set in an old schoolhouse behind the African American Civll War Memorial, the museum makes the point that for some, the Civil War was about secession versus union, but for others, it was a matter of breaking human bondage. The permanent exhibit uses photographs, videos and artifacts like slave shackles and a slave bill of sale to follow African American history from the Civil War through the Civil Rights movement. Visitors can search for ancestors in databases of black troops, regiments and battles.