Ruth Corene McDaniel was the driving force behind Carbondale's African American Museum of Southern Illinois. She is a former head of the Carbondale Chapter of the NAACP. In 1997, Corene founded the Southern Illinois Achievers, a group of local residents and university faculty dedicated to promoting the history of African Americans, which began work to bring the African American Museum to life. Local residents made donations of historic documents and artifacts to the museum's collection. After being temporarily housed first in homes and churches and later in Carbondale's University Mall, the museum found a permanent home in 2005 when the City of Carbondale purchased the former Attucks High School, the pre-integration black high school on the northeast side of Carbondale, and leased the property to the Museum. At that time, SIUC's Daily Egyptian newspaper announced the purchase by saying, "The African American Museum of Southern Illinois has gone from a box underneath Corene McDaniel's bed to having a permanent home." In 2009, the Museum won a Illinois Tourism Attraction grant from the State of Illinois to assist in restoration of the former Attucks High School building to house the museum and serve as a resource hub for other community-based organizations.

The Museum has hosted many exhibits on topics such as Underground Railroad Quilts, African Americans in Law Enforcement, and 100 Years of African American Churches in Southern Illinois. The Museum also hosted an exhibit on the Tuskegee Airmen, during which four of the airmen visited Carbondale, attended community events, talked about their experiences, and made a presentation at the Museum. Mayor Brad Cole praised Corene for her countless hours dedicated to the museum: "Thanks to the sweat, determination, and hard work put forth by Corene, the African American Museum of Southern Illinois will educate persons of all ages and races for many, many years to come."