This article provides a case study of race and big-gift cultural patronage, a theoretically and empirically understudied phenomenon, by investigating million-dollar donations to the Smithsonian Institution by black patrons. I find that large donations by black supporters are concentrated at one Smithsonian museum – the National Museum of African American History and Culture. To explain this distinctive pattern of cultural consumption, I draw on ethnographic data and archival texts related to patronage at African American museums. Gifts to the National Museum of African American History and Culture can be partly explained by strategic acculturation, or an impulse to articulate and nurture black identity through consuming black culture. However, cultural steering also played a key role. Black donors were identified and cultivated via a robust fundraising infrastructure where market research cast them as key constituents of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and taste-making strategi...

中文翻译：

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高雅文化、黑人文化：博物馆慈善事业的战略同化与文化导向

本文通过调查黑人赞助人对史密森学会的数百万美元捐赠，提供了种族和大礼文化赞助的案例研究，这是一种理论和实证研究不足的现象。我发现黑人支持者的大笔捐款都集中在史密森尼博物馆——非裔美国人历史和文化国家博物馆。为了解释这种独特的文化消费模式，我利用了与非裔美国人博物馆赞助相关的民族志数据和档案文本。给国家非裔美国人历史和文化博物馆的礼物可以部分解释为战略文化适应，或者通过消费黑人文化表达和培养黑人身份的冲动。然而，文化导向也发挥了关键作用。