The mission of the Black History Museum is to enrich the lives of Alexandria's residents and visitors, to foster tolerance and understanding among all cultures and to stimulate appreciation of the diversity of the African American experience.

The institutional complex is composed of the Museum, the Watson Reading Room, and the Alexandria African American Heritage Park. The Museum, devoted to exhibiting local and regional history, incorporates the Robert H. Robinson Library as one of two exhibition galleries. The Robert H. Robinson Library was originally constructed in 1940 following a sit-in at the segregated Alexandria Library. The Reading Room, established in 1995, provides an environment for learning about the diversity of African American cultural traditions. A nine-acre green space and wetland, the Park offers a place for celebration, commemoration and quiet reflection.

In 2006, the Alexandria Black History Museum opened the first phase of a three-part exhibition on African American life. Securing the Blessings of Liberty is an exhibition highlighting the African American experience in early Alexandria, Virginia. Phase I of the exhibition remains on view through 2009.