This page is continually updated to include new information. Check back often!
Free Admission to Present your Bank of America or Merrill Lynch credit or debit card and picture ID on the first full weekend of every month for one free general admission. Check: http://museums.bankofamerica.com or individual museums’ websites. Included in this offer: Museum of African American History in Boston and Nantucket, MA, African American History Museum, Philadelphia, PA, .Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI, and Northwest African American Museum, Seattle, WA.
African Burial Ground Memorial, New York, NY
Widely acknowledged as one of the most significant American archaeological finds of the twentieth century, the African Burial Ground discovery redefined the history of New York and exposed an often overlooked heritage.
Cozad-Bates House
The mission of Restore Cleveland Hope, Inc., is to celebrate Cleveland’s historic anti-slavery past through the establishment and operation of an Underground Railroad education and resource center in the historic Cozad-Bates House.
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Colonial Williamsburg, located in Williamsburg, Virginia, is a living-history museum and private foundation. It represents the historic city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA., circa 1699 to 1780. The 301-acre Historic Area is an interpretation of a Colonial American city, with exhibits including dozens of authentic or re-created buildings related to colonial and American Revolutionary War history. It also includes a plantation called, Great Hopes Plantation, which includes an interpretation of life of its inhabitants, including actors portraying enslaved people.
Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center
The Tubman Museum and Educational Center is part of the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway, a self-guided, scenic driving tour with more than 30 sites related to freedom seekers in the 1800s. For more information, a map and guide, and an audio guide, stop by the Dorchester Visitor Center, 2 Rose Hill Place in Cambridge, MD.
Harpers Ferry National Park
On October 16, 17, and 18, 1859, John Brown and his “Provisional Army of the United States” took possession of the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Brown had come to arm an uprising of slaves. Instead, the raid drew militia companies and federal troops from Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. On the morning of October 18, a storming party of 12 Marines broke down the door of the Armory’s fire engine house, taking Brown and the remaining raiders captive.
History of Alexandria Black History Museum
The Museum is located in the Parker-Gray Historic District of the City.
Its mission is to preserve the history of Alexandria’s African-American citizens, as well as providing a forum for issues of concern to all African Americans. The Museum has two exhibition galleries on the first floor of the museum, and artifact storage and offices below, the Alexandria Black History Museum continues to expand educational opportunities for residents, scholars and tourists.
African-American History Museum in Philadelphia
The museum collects and preserves art and artifacts and, through exhibitions and programs, interprets the history and stories of African Americans and those of the African Diaspora. We enrich the lives of all visitors, especially children and youth, using education to empower them through experiences that will enlighten them culturally and intellectually. We are a gathering place for the community, a forum for broader community engagement and a partner for collaborations with historical and cultural institutions.
Mary McLoad Bethune Council House
Mary McLeod Bethune demonstrated the value of education, a philosophy of universal love, and the wise and consistent use of political power in striving for racial and gender equality. The 15th of 17 children of former slaves, Bethune grew up amidst poverty and oppression of the Reconstruction South, yet rose to prominence as an educator, presidential advisor, and political activist. Through her own schooling by missionaries in South Carolina, Bethune recognized the importance of education in the emerging struggle for civil rights.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon and Slavery
Learn more about George Washington and the enslaved population at Mount Vernon. At the time of George Washington’s death, the Mount Vernon estate’s enslaved population consisted of 318 people. George Washington was a slave owner for fifty-six years, beginning at eleven years of age when he inherited ten slaves from his father.
Museum of African American History-Boston and Nantucket
The Museum of African American History is New England’s largest museum dedicated to preserving, conserving and interpreting the contributions of African Americans. In Boston and Nantucket, the Museum has preserved four historic sites and two Black Heritage Trails® that tell the story of organized black communities from the Colonial Period through the 19th century.
National Great Blacks In Wax Museum
The National Great Blacks in Wax museum is Baltimore’s first wax museum and the first wax museum of African American history in the nation. The museum was started as a grassroots operation by Dr. Elmer and Dr. Joanna Martin. The exhibits feature over 100 wax figures and scenes, a full model slave ship exhibit which portrays the 400-year history of the Atlantic Slave Trade, an exhibit on the role of youth in making history, and a room highlighting the contributions to African American history by notable Marylanders.
National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture was established in 2003 by an Act of Congress, making it the 19th Smithsonian Institution museum. It is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, art, history, and culture.
Peter Mott House Underground Railroad Museum
The Peter Mott House is the oldest known house in Lawnside, NJ. Built in 1845, the house was residence to Peter Mott, an African-American preacher who was the first Sunday school superintendent at Mount Pisgah African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lawnside, and his wife, Eliza. Peter Mott was an abolitionist and was instrumental in gaining the freedom of many enslaved people.
President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation
Known as the “President’s House,” the historic site aims to explore the conflicting history of freedom and slavery in early United States history. After years of debate about how to tackle such a large task, the “President’s House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation,” opened in late 2010. The site sits next to the Liberty Bell, across the street from the Independence Visitor Center, and near steps of the Constitution Center, Independence Hall, and the National Museum of Jewish American History.
The Robbins House
The Robbins House, located in Concord, Massachusetts. is a Concord-based nonprofit organization focused on bringing attention to Concord’s African, African American, and Anti-slavery history from the 17th through the 19th centuries. The organization’s mission is to reveal the undiscovered African American history of Concord and its regional and national importance. Its vision is to inspire conversation, expand understanding and contribute to a better society.
Whitney Plantation
The museum is mainly devoted to portraying the history of slavery in the United States. It is located in the town of Wallace, Louisiana, 35 miles west of New Orleans. The land was bought in 1752 by the Heidel family who emigrated from Germany and used the site as an indigo and sugar plantation. Over 107,000 slaves spent their lives on the plantation. Their names are listed on a memorial on the grounds of the plantation. It opened in 2014 and was described in a recent New York Times article on February 26, 2015.
Various Articles about Burials and Archaeological Sites
Excavation of sites such as Timbuctoo, N.J., is helping to rewrite African American history, By DeNeen Brown, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Brutal slave history unearthed at Frederick County’s L’Hermitage. By Michael E. Ruane, Washington Post Staff Writer, Thursday, August 26, 2010