Summary: | Museum director Rowena Stewart was born on March 6, 1932 in Jacksonville, Florida, and grew up in New Berlin, Florida. She graduated in 1955 from Edward Waters College in Jacksonville. Stewart began her career as a social worker in settlement houses and reformist-minded community centers in Jacksonville and in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1975, Stewart became the first Director, Rhode Island Black Heritage Society. From 1985 to 1992, she served as the Director and Curator of Philadelphia's Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum. In 1992, Stewart moved to Detroit to head the Motown Historical Museum. Three years later, she was recruited to Kansas City, Missouri to oversee the American Jazz Museum development and later became the Executive Director. Stewart passed away in 2015 at the age of 83.
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