An outreach endeavor that centers African American experiences at the core of its mission, the Robert F. Smith Fund project is one of the major public programs for National Museum of African American History and Culture. Because many collections capturing African American history are not accessible to the general public, there is knowledge, culture and lived experiences lost in boxes and unreadable recorded formats. The Smith Fund consists of multiple components entrenched in the idea the preserving and providing access to black narratives is only achievable by engaging black communities at multiple levels. The Community Curation Program works with individuals to provide digital preservation services to ensure that family history is safeguarded for generations to come. The Freedmen's Bureau Transcription Project opens the public to lives of the recently emancipated. Lastly, the Family History Center allows museum attendees to excavate their own family histories by offering access to databases such as Ancestry.com.