BY DARLENE DONLOE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A traveling exhibition celebrating nearly 500 years of the contributions, history and cultural influences of African Americans in the United States and around the world will open in Los Angeles Oct. 30.

“America I Am: The African American Imprint” will have nearly 300 artifacts and memorabilia on display at the California Science Center until April 2010.

The exhibit has items that convey the collective experience and saga of blacks in America, from the first steps of enslaved Africans on the nation’s soil to the present.

The idea for the traveling exhibit, which will make the third stop of its 10-city tour in L.A., was sparked two years ago by talk show and radio host Tavis Smiley, who in 2007 attended the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown colony, an entrance station for African slaves.

“I started wrestling with the idea of how the story of the contributions we have made to this country over a 400-year period and all the things we’ve done could be told,” said Smiley, who is presenting the exhibit.

Smiley said he first thought about doing a permanent museum exhibition, but realized it would be too limiting. He wanted something the entire country could enjoy.

“I wanted to tell the story beyond that (400th anniversary) weekend,” Smiley said. “Everybody knows the story of the immigrants coming through Ellis Island. That’s one story about the founding of America. But, the other story about the founding of this country is the story of Jamestown and the slaves on whose backs this country was built.

“It’s been 400 years since those slaves first arrived, and so much of America, 400 years later, knows nothing about our story, about our backstory, or about our contributions over that 400-year history.”

The 12-gallery exhibit will include multimedia, documents, rare historic objects and photos. 

A major inclusion is the centuries-old Door of No Return, a gateway from Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle; hundreds of years ago, Africans walked through the door while on their way to slave ships. 

Other highlights include:

• Malcolm X’s Quran and journal.

• Items from Michael Jordan, Jimi Hendrix, Etta James and several others.

• Alex Haley’s typewriter, used to compose the book “Roots.”

• The clothes of Frederick Douglass, along with a letter he received from Abraham Lincoln.

The exhibit’s items have been loaned and will be returned at the conclusion of the tour, which is expected to last for four years.

The complete cost to develop, maintain and transport a show this size has not yet been determined, according to Smiley.

“The answer is fluid because we have items that move in and out of (the) exhibit,” Smiley said. “It’s priceless. People have loaned us their precious items. We have the Emancipation Proclamation. How do you put a price on that? We have the Declaration of Independence. Some (W.E.B.) DuBois artifacts. The price would be astronomical. It will cost millions to travel it. Just think, you can see history right in front of you.”

In order to “get it right,” Smiley said he enlisted the help of consultants who could help him figure out what the story was that needed to be told.

He sought the help of scholars such as Cornel West and Henry Louis Gates Jr.

As of presstime, future dates and cities weren’t released. The exhibit has already been hosted by Philadelphia and Atlanta.

The exhibition will go along with programming from the California African American Museum and an exhibit called “RACE: Are We So Different?” according to a press statement.

“The two exhibitions are complementary; America I Am highlights the contributions of African Americans and opens a dialogue about our collective experience and the RACE exhibit encourages guests to explore the science and everyday impact of race and racism,” science center President Jeffrey Rudolph said in the press statement.

The science center is at 700 State Drive in Exposition Park. For more information, call (323) SCIENCE, (213) 744-2019, or visit www.californiasciencecenter.org or www.AmericaIAM.org.