Renowned media executive Oprah Winfrey will be featured in a new exhibition dedicated to African Americans’ contributions to American culture at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.
The exhibit, “Watching Oprah: The Oprah Winfrey Show and American Culture,” opens Friday, June 8 and runs through June 2019.
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“As an African American woman who founded her own media company and became a cultural icon watched by millions of viewers around the world, Winfrey harnessed the power of the media to break down barriers, empower herself, and inspire others,” the museum stated on its website.
The exhibit will feature photos and videos illuminating the mogul and activist’s long career, as well as original artifacts from Harpo Studios in Chicago, home of the Oprah Winfrey Show.
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Visitors will experience content divided into three parts: “America Shape Oprah,” a biographical section leading to Winfrey’s rise; “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” which dives into the 25-year history of the hit show and “Oprah Shapes America,” a section that examines Winfrey’s role as host and executive producer amid America’s changing race and culture issues.
“What’s interesting is the same way America thought about Walter Cronkite — you could trust Walter Cronkite and his opinion — they trust Oprah,” museum director Lonnie G. Bunch III told the Washington Post. “An African American woman becomes the person America turns to.”
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Winfrey is the largest individual benefactor of the museum and has donated $21 million to the $540 million museum, the Post reported. But according to Bunch, her contributions did not influence the exhibition.
More about the exhibit at nmaahc.si.edu.
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