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List of African-American historic places

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The following is a dynamic and expanding list of African-American historic places in the United States and territories that has been documented to be significant in illustrating the experience of the African diaspora in America. Some are local landmarks while others are on the National Register of Historic Places.[1] The stories of the contributions, hardships, and aspirations of all American people can be seen in the experiences of African Americans at these physical locations.[2] The formal preservation of these sites dates back to at least 1917 according to architectural historian Brent Leggs when efforts to save the Gothic Revival home of abolitionist and statesman Frederick Douglass were launched. "Even when it wasn't called 'preservation,' this work was already happening."[1]

The places listed below represent the achievements and struggles of African Americans. Visitors to these sites can gain a better understanding of the events and the people of that time. These places connected across time to create an understanding of what happened and why.[3]

African-American historic places organized by period or topic

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This outline has been adapted from other related Wikipedia articles and The Negro Pilgrimage in America by C. Eric Lincoln and Before the Mayflower; A History of the Negro in America; 1619-1964 by Lerone Bennett Jr.

Origins [4]

Main article: African-American history
Old Slave Mart, Charleston, SC

The Negro Pilgrimage in America[4] or the African Past[5] The story of the African Americans begins in Africa. Early histories of Africa considered it the 'Dark Continent', both in the sense of the color of its people, but also for its lack of known civilizations. Studies beginning in the 1960s have found a rich history of civilization, including arts, architecture, public thought and major civilizations.[5] The story of African Americans builds from these roots and can be traced through historic sites associated with the slave trade in America:[2]


American Revolution [5]

Main article: African Americans in the Revolutionary War

While the term 'American Revolution' connotes only the war period (1776–1783), the entire colonial experience is included. Free Negros were present during early campaigns of the war and throughout the war. In March 1770, Crispus Attucks died during the protest that has become known as the Boston Massacre.[5] At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Peter Salem and Salem Poor, two free Negros valiantly served. Salem Poor was commended for his actions that day.[5]


Slavery[4][5]

Main article: Slavery in the United States

For over 200 years, the American system of slavery held four million people of color in bondage.[5] The effect was felt by all the people of the nation, including black, white, yellow, and red. It was premised on a system of racial supremacy that affected the development of the American Negro and the relationships of all American's with persons of other races.[5]
The first blacks in the new world did not arrive on the slave ship to Jamestown in 1619. Rather, it was Pedro Alonzo Niño, navigator on the Niña the smallest of Christopher Columbus's vessels.[4] From that day, Negros participated in nearly every major Spanish exploration in the new world. Neflo de Olaña and thirty other Negros were with Balboa when they discovered the Pacific Ocean.[4]

Antioch Missionary Baptist Church, Houston TX


Slave revolts and insurrections[5]
In the summer of 1791, Haiti witnessed the first successful slave revolt. This was not the first; it was one in a long series of revolts.[5] Between 1663 and 1864, there were 109 revolts on land and another 55 at sea.[4] Notable early insurrections include the 1712 uprising in New York City and the 1800 attack on Richmond, Virginia known as Gabriel's Rebellion. That same year, Denmark Vesey, a free black, planned to seize Charleston, South Carolina, but was foiled when betrayed.[4]

House at John Brown's Farm, North Elba, NY


Abolition crisis[4]
With the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States gained a huge western dominion. With it, two aspects of American life came into stark comparison. The first was the expansion of slavery across the southern half of the nation, creating a vast agricultural empire based on a large rural workforce. The second was Manifest Destiny, the expansion of a free society westward across the continent.[4] The economic realities in the south precluded the development of a strong abolitionist base, while the lack of slavery among the industrialized north, neither supported nor abhorred the abolitionist cause.[4] By 1835, William Lloyd Garrison had established The Liberator as the nation's most militant abolitionist newspaper. Over the next 30 years, the north and the south would try to find ways to coexist with two different economic systems and a growing abolitionist movement.[5]


Civil war and emancipation[4][5]

Main article: Military history of African Americans in the American Civil War

The American Civil War is often seen as a war between white men over the fate of the black man. From the beginning, the African-American peoples played a significant role in the war.[5] As early as July 1861, three months after Fort Sumter, the United States Congress passed the first Confiscation Act, granting freedom to any slave who had been used to support the Confederate war efforts, once they were behind Union Lines.[4] Quickly General Sherman employed this new manpower in the construction of Union facilities from which to prosecute the war.[4] With the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, the First Regiment Louisiana Heavy Artillery and All Negro unit was founded by General B.F. Butler. The War Department quickly authorized the enlistment of Negro soldier with the founding of the Massachusetts Fifty-Fourth and Fifty-Fifth Infantry Regiments. By the end of the war, there were over 150 all-Negro regiments.[4] On September 29, 1864, the Third Division of the Eighteenth Corp of the Army of the James, moved forward to take the New Market Heights outside Richmond, Virginia. The key role in this advance was given to the 'all-Negro' division. By the end of the day, the Union Army would stand on the heights overlooking the city of Richmond with a loss of 584 men and 10 Congressional Medal honorees now in their ranks. This action marked the beginning of the dissolution of the Confederate Government and the end of the war the following April.


Reconstruction-era[4][5]


Segregation[4] and the rise of Jim Crow[5]

See also: Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era


Northern Migration [4]

Main article: Great Migration (African American)
Langston Terrace Dwellings, Washington, D.C.


Expanding opportunities [4]


Civil rights movement [4][5]

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Boyhood home, Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District, Atlanta, GA
Main article: Civil Rights Movement


Cemeteries

The preservation of African-American cemeteries is an integral part of documenting Black history and heritage. Many lands where enslaved or freed black individuals were buried are threatened by development and neglect though new efforts are underway to protect these historic places.[6]

African-American historic places organized by state or territory

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Alabama

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Alabama
16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL

Arizona

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Arkansas

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Little Rock Central High School, Little Rock, AR
Further information: Category:African-American history of Arkansas

California

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Further information: Category:African-American history of California

Colorado

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Connecticut

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Africans who had participated in the slave revolt on La Amistad attended the First Church of Christ, Congregational in Farmington, CT

Delaware

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Delaware

District of Columbia

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Main article: List of African-American historic places in the District of Columbia
See also: Category:African-American history in Washington, D.C.

Florida

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Florida
Further information: Category:African-American history of Florida

Georgia

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Georgia
Further information: Category:African-American history of Georgia (U.S. state)

Hawaii

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  • African American Diversity Cultural Center

Idaho

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Illinois

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Ida B. Wells-Barnett House, Chicago, IL
Further information: Category:African-American history of Illinois

Indiana

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Levi Coffin House in Fountain City, IN was used to hide slaves in the Underground Railroad
Further information: Category:African-American history of Indiana

Iowa

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Iowa

Kansas

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Kansas

Kentucky

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Kentucky

Louisiana

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Louisiana

Maine

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Maryland

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Maryland

Massachusetts

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Michigan

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Minnesota

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Mississippi

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Mississippi

Missouri

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Missouri

Montana

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Nebraska

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Further information: List of African American historic places in Omaha, Nebraska
Further information: Category:African-American history of Nebraska

Nevada

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New Hampshire

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New Jersey

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New Mexico

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New York

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Further information: Category:African-American history of New York (state)
African Burial Ground National Monument, Manhattan, NY

North Carolina

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Main article: List of African American historic places in North Carolina

Ohio

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Mount Zion Baptist Church, Athens, OH

Oklahoma

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Further information: Category:African-American history of Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

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People's Hall in Ercildoun, an abolitionist center
John Brown house in Chambersburg

Puerto Rico

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Rhode Island

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South Carolina

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Main article: List of African American historic places in South Carolina

Tennessee

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Texas

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Texas

Utah

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Vermont

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Virginia

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Main article: List of African American historic places in Virginia

Virgin Islands

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Washington

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West Virginia

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Main article: List of African American historic places in West Virginia
Further information: Category:African-American history of West Virginia
Harpers Ferry, WV

Wisconsin

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Casey Cep (January 27, 2020). "The Fight to Preserve African American History". The New Yorker. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  2. ^ a b National Register of Historic Places: African American Historic Places; National Park Service & National Trust for Historic Preservation; The Preservation Press; Washington D.C.; 1994
  3. ^ Teaching with Historic Places Archived May 27, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s The Negro Pilgrimage in America: C. Eric Lincoln; Bantam Books, New York; 1967
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in American 1619-1964; Lerone Bennett, Jr.; Pelican Books; Baltimore, Maryland; 1964
  6. ^ "H.R.1179 - African-American Burial Grounds Network Act". Congress.Gov. February 13, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2021.

Further reading

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  • Ballard, Allan; One More Day's Journey: The Story of a Family and a People; New York; McGraw-Hill, 1984
  • Durham, Philip, and Everettt L. Jones; The Adventures of the Negro Cowboys; New York: Bantam Books, 1969
  • Ferguson, Leland G.; Uncommon Ground: Archeology and Colonial African America; Washington, D.C.; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992
  • Harley, Sharon, and Rosalyn Terborg-Penn; The Afro-American Woman: Struggles and Images; Port Washington; Kennikat Press; 1978
  • Higgans, Nathan I.; Harlem Renaissance; New York; Oxford University Press; 1971
  • Lyon, Elizabeth A.; Cultural and Ethnic Diversity in Historic Preservation. Information Series, no. 65; Washington D.C.; National Trust for Historic Preservation, 1992.
  • McFeely, William S.; Frederick Douglass; New York; Norton, 1990.
  • National Register of Historic Places: African American Historic Places; National Park Service & National Trust for Historic Preservation; The Preservation Press; Washington D.C.; 1994
  • Painter, Nell Irvin; Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas after Reconstruction; New York; Norton; 1976
  • Reynolds, Gary A. and beryl Wright; Against the Odds: African American Artists and the Harmon Foundation. Newark, New Jersey; The Newark Museum, 1989
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