About

Mark E. Mitchell, historian, advanced collector, speaker, appraiser and dealer, is considered to be one of the nation’s foremost authorities in the acquisition, research, marketing, and preservation of original African American manuscripts, letters, documents, artifacts, photographs, and books. He is one of the few nationally-recognized appraisers in the field of Black Americana, and a noted dealer in early American newspapers and United States coins. A popular speaker on African American History, Mark has delivered major addresses before the United Negro College Fund, Oakwood College faculty and students, the Newseum, the J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, and The National Press Club to name but a few. He has also made numerous appearances on national television, radio and in print media.

Mark Mitchell is highly regarded by many of the nation’s most prestigious institutions. Since 1980, he has consulted with The Library of Congress–its leading authority has stated that Mark is “the person I turn to when I need additional expert opinion regarding the value, scarcity and authenticity of early newspapers and related documents and manuscripts.” Sotheby’s auction house regularly refers its inquiries concerning antique newspapers and African American historical documents and periodicals to Mark for authentication and appraisal. Likewise, Christie’s in New York has been quoted as saying that “….he is the expert in this area.”

Mark is a native of Washington, DC, and completed his undergraduate work at the University of Maryland. He is a retired Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve, and plays jazz saxophone and flute professionally.

Assembled to be a largely visual, museum-quality collection of authentic artifacts and ephemera chronicling African American History, the Mark E. Mitchell Collection is considered one of the nation’s finest and most comprehensive private archives by such noted authorities as:

• Lonnie G. Bunch III, founding director, National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Yale Professor David W. Blight, Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
• Dr. James Oliver Horton, noted author and former George Washington University history professor, and
• Wyatt Houston Day, nationally known collector, dealer and appraiser.

In 1991, Mark learned about educator Carter G. Woodson’s lifelong concern that African American History had become marginalized, revised, and, in most cases, omitted from the nation’s history curricula and textbooks. He decided to rectify this by creating a collection that would graphically present the true history of Africans in America by documenting and exhibiting their struggles, accomplishments, contributions, and courage spanning the past five centuries. Mark believes this rich history can be an uplifting force for change and must be preserved, taught, and remembered so that African Americans can confront the myths and appreciate their identity and legacy.

Beginning in early 2001, Mark worked closely with Congressmen John Lewis and J.C. Watts, as well as Senators Sam Brownback and Max Cleland, to create both the impetus and legislation for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture that opened in September 2016. Original pieces from The Mitchell Collection were critical in stimulating the interest and action necessary to initiate the museum project.