This was the first independent museum in the country dedicated to African American art, history and culture. The collection features African American artworks and photography, permanent exhibits that illustrate African Americans’ experiences from slavery through the Civil Rights movement, and rotating exhibits that cover topics such as Chicago blues music or the Black Panther movement. It's affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.
While it spans two floors, the museum is fairly small and doesn't take long to go through. The most interesting bit is the 'Freedom, Resistance and Journey Toward Equality' exhibit on the lower level, which provides a bite-size take on race relations in Chicago.
The museum gets its name from the city's first non-indigenous settler, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a French Canadian of Haitian descent. It's housed in a cool 1910 building with a sculpture garden that opens up into the lovely expanse of Washington Park.