Only the second of its kind in the country, The Griot Museum of Black History opened as The Black World History Wax Museum in February 1997. Today, the renamed museum collects, preserves, and shares the stories, culture, and history of Black people, particularly those with a regional connection to American history.

The Griot uses life-size wax figures, other art, artifacts, and memorabilia to interpret their stories. Visitors can “meet” and learn about Carter G. Woodson, Josephine Baker, Dred and Harriet Scott, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Miles Davis and many others.

The Griot's collection includes an authentic slave cabin, originally built on the Wright–Smith Plantation in Jonesburg, Missouri. Visitors can solve puzzles, view documentary videos, and “board” a scale model section of a ship that replicates those used to transport Africans to America during the Transatlantic Slave Trade.