The Biggest Little Museum in Texas is at the old Thornton House in Plano. PAAM exists as living Black history, preserving the minor details that bring a museum space to life.
Before he passed, Dollie Thomas’ father gave each of his daughters assignments. As one of the original curators of the Plano African American Museum, Ben Thomas needed to know it’d be in good hands. Dollie serves on the board; her sisters determine education and programming.
The museum resides in the Thornton house; a quaint white-wood home on 13th street. In 1909, the house was sold to one of the first Black settlers in Plano, John Thornton. Three generations of Thorntons inherited the home; after it became vacant, descendants of the founding families set out to renovate the house and honor its history. Ron Williams spearheaded the funding, raising enough money before the building was condemned.
In 2021, a decade after PAAM closed, Zara Jones took a walk through the old museum, thinking it was such a shame no one knew about it. After her visit, Jones created a digital PAAM where visitors could explore exhibitions online and engage with the material through informative videos.
”After that, I said we have got to get this museum back open,” Dollie says. “ I worked for PISD for about 25 years. After I retired from the school district, I decided I’m gonna do it. We started working and got it done.”
The museum had initially closed due to lack of funding; they lost one of their biggest donors so they sold some property to get PAAM up and running. The process was laborious—walls needed painting, pipes needed fixing, and a new sprinkler system had to be installed, but the Thomas sisters knew it was worth it, the history must be preserved. Finally, PAAM celebrated its soft opening on Juneteenth of 2023.
“These are souls,” Dollie says of the portraits on the walls. “They lived. They survived slavery. It is an American story and we’ve got to talk about these things. We got to know how far we came to know where we’re going and how strong we are. We have all of this to show for it, these four streets were where all of the African Americans were relegated.”
The historic Douglass community used to be entirely Black. Dollie says during segregation, Avenue I was home to the Black business district. They had boarding houses, restaurants and a moving company. The museum is committed to illuminating the history of the families that lived there.
“We did everything in this community,” Dollie says. “We could work uptown, but we couldn’t buy from uptown, so we had to buy from down here. We had our own little, places of business down here, so we were self sustaining”
As part of PAAM’s programming, every Tuesday children from a nearby daycare center come to read and learn about the exhibits.
“We read something to them about being better, ” Dollie says.” We always make sure we ask them, ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’”
When you walk through the door of the museum, you’ll notice the original dark wood contrasted against aging photos and articles. These pieces of history are hung to commemorate the communities founding families—including the Drakes, Thomases and Stimpsons. The exhibition, “Faith, Family, Forever” is a place to honor and centralize their contributions. Their current interactive exhibition and installation “Behind Our Curtains…” by A Jas Mardis is dedicated to delving into the stories behind the Black Douglass community.
Last fall they had an exhibit called “The 1619 arrival.” The exhibit delves into the story of the first Africans to arrive in the United states to be sold into slavery. Dollie tells the story of those who survived the journey.
“You have a purpose because you’re here,” Dollie says. “350 people left, but only 20 or so people survived. They were either killed, they committed suicide, or they died from disease. If you made it this far with your Black self, you should make your mark on this country, because you’re supposed to be here and you’re supposed to do something great.”
Dollie says PAAM’s art and history speak about the American dream, though sometimes it’s a dream deferred. Her ultimate goal is to make PAAM the “biggest little museum in Texas.”
“We want to impart knowledge on people, not just about the struggle, but about the triumphs,” Dollie says. “We want to talk about the advancements. We want to talk about all of the stuff that made America great. Not just us, but all the people that helped us along the way. We’re gonna tell the whole story because it’s something to be proud of.”
