Banjos in Bricktown: A Visit to the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City
Banjos in Bricktown: A Visit to the American Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures
Have I ever mentioned that I’ve always wanted to learn to play the banjo? Unfortunately, my hand–eye coordination has never quite risen to the occasion. Still, I adore the sound of it, the brightness, the bounce, the unmistakable cheer, so when I stumbled across the American Banjo Museum during a recent trip to Oklahoma City, I didn’t hesitate. Of course, I went inside.
The history of the banjo is far richer and more complicated than most people realize. The instrument originated in the late 1600s or early 1700s, created by enslaved African people in the American South. Its design was likely inspired by West African instruments such as the kora. Enslaved musicians passed on the knowledge of how to play it, often entertaining the families who enslaved them, including, it seems, the children.
Robert McAlpin Williamson is credited as the first Euro-American known to play the banjo, but it was Joel Walker Sweeney who brought the instrument onto public stages. Performing in blackface minstrel shows before the Civil War, Sweeney popularized the banjo among white audiences, carried it overseas to Ireland after a stop in Liverpool, and helped cement its place in popular music, though in a deeply troubled cultural context.
After the Civil War, the banjo’s popularity exploded. By 1868, it even supported a dedicated monthly publication, Buckley’s Monthly Banjoist. The instrument became a staple of ragtime and early jazz, played across social classes. For a time, the banjo truly was an all-American instrument.
Then came the Great Depression. Like so many small joys, the banjo fell out of favor.
When it returned after World War II, it did so through bluegrass and folk music, the sounds most people now associate with it, though it also remains deeply woven into Celtic music traditions. The banjo, it turns out, refuses to stay in one box.
I still wish I could play.
The American Banjo Museum began in 1988 in Guthrie, Oklahoma, founded by ragtime and banjo enthusiasts Jack Canine and Brady Hunt. Originally called the National Four-String Banjo Hall of Fame Museum, it moved to its current Bricktown location in 2009, where it feels perfectly at home amid Oklahoma City’s revived downtown energy.
Today, the museum houses more than 400 banjos, making it one of the largest collections in the world. There is an example from nearly every manufacturer imaginable, from early handcrafted instruments to dazzling, intricately inlaid works of art, and from nearly every musical genre. They are, quite simply, beautiful.
The visit begins with a short film set against a 3D recreation of Henry Ossawa Tanner’s The Banjo Lesson, grounding the instrument’s story in dignity and history. From there, you wind through galleries of stunning instruments and exhibits dedicated to notable players, including an unexpectedly delightful feature on Kermit the Frog, as well as a thoughtfully curated display highlighting women banjo players.
This was probably the most fun stop I made in Oklahoma City. I’ve been recommending it to everyone since. If you find yourself in downtown OKC, it’s absolutely worth the eight dollars.
You can find it at 9 East Sheridan Avenue.
Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11–6, and Sunday, 12–5.
And yes — I’m still thinking about learning to play.
____________________________________________________________________
About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.
✨ #TakeTheBackRoads
Enjoyed this post? Support the adventure by visiting my sponsors, shopping the gallery, or buying me a cup of coffee!
