Mrs. Nettie Hunt and daughter on the steps of the Supreme Court, Washington, D.C., Nov., 1954, featured in Brown v. Board: Five Communities That Changed America. (Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.)

This site showcases:
• Historic Properties
• Web Products / Publications
• National Park Units
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The National Register of Historic Places commemorates the events, people, designs and achievements that help illustrate African Americans' contributions to American history.

Historic Properties

Sherwood Equal Rights Historic District -- Howland Cobblestone Store Photograph by Nancy L. Todd Courtesy of New York State Historic Preservation Office

National Register Properties listed in 2008

• An American Success Story: The Pope House of Raleigh
• Brown v. Board: Five Communities that Changed America
• Chicago's Black Metropolis: Understanding History Through a Historic Place
• From Canterbury to Little Rock:
  The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans
• Glen Echo Park: Center for Education and Recreation
• Iron Hill School: An African-American One-Room School
• The Liberty Bell: From Obscurity to Icon
• Memories of Montpelier: Home of James and Dolley Madison
• New Kent School and the George W. Watkins School: From Freedom of Choice to Integration
• The Old Courthouse in St. Louis: Yesterday and Today
• The Siege of Port Hudson: "Forty Days and Nights in the Wilderness of Death"
• Two American Entrepreneurs: Madam C.J. Walker and J.C. Penney
• The Vieux Carré: A Creole Neighborhood in New Orleans
• When Rice Was King
  

The Atlanta Travel Itinerary includes the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site,which includes MLK's birth home, gravesite, and the Ebenezer Baptist Church. Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter sing with Martin Luther King, Sr., Coretta Scott King, Andrew Young and other civil rights leaders during a visit to Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Courtesy of Jimmy Carter Library (NLJC)

National Register Travel Itineraries
Travel to historic places that convey the courageous and inspiring stories of African Americans from their perseverance along the Underground Railroad to freedoms gained during their struggle for civil rights, from Atlanta's Sweet Auburn to Chicago's Black Metropolis. Be sure to visit the many newly recognized historic places that were added to our itineraries during the past year.

African American Historic Places

African American Historic Places

(ISBN 0-471-14345-6) describes more than 800 properties in 42 States and 2 U.S. Territories listed in the National Register of Historic Places that have played a role in African American history. Banks, cemeteries, clubs, colleges, forts, homes, hospitals, schools, and shops are but a few of the types of properties explored in this volume, which is an invaluable reference guide for researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American culture. Also included are eight insightful essays on the African American experience, from migration to the role of women, from the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement. (Available from John Wiley & Sons at 1-800-225-5945)

African American History in the National Park Service

The Carver Bust offers visitors the chance to hear George Washington Carver's voice reciting the poem "Equipment" by Edgar Guest. National Park Service photograph, courtesy of George Washington Carver National Monument

Featured Park: George Washington Carver National Monument
George Washington Carver was born into slavery during the Civil War. While still enslaved, outlaws stole George and his mother Mary from Moses Carver. A Union scout found George and returned him to the Carvers.

National Park Service Units featuring African American History

Learn More

Presidential Proclamation: National African American Heritage Month 2009

For more information about African American historic places listed in the National Register, please visit these past features.
African American History Month 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000

National Park Service: African American History Month
An ongoing effort to provide a comprehensive list of African American related resources located within the National Park Service web pages.

africanamericanhistorymonth.gov
A federal government wide portal site for African American Heritage

National Historic Landmark Program's African American History Month
National Historic Landmarks are nationally significant historic places designated by the Secretary of the Interior because they possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Their African American History Month feature highlights the Carter G. Woodson House.

HABS/HAER/HALS/CRGIS African American History Month
Historic American Buildings Survey, Historic American Engineering Record, Historic American Landscapes Survey, Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems, Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems African American History feature highlights various African American properties documented in their programs.

Cultural Resources Diversity Program
A highlight of the National Park Service's on-going efforts to reflect the diversity of American culture.

African Reflections on the American Landscape: Identifying and Interpreting Africanisms
Examines African cultural heritage found in the built environment and its interpretation within the NPS cultural resources programs.

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program
The National Park Service is implementing a national Underground Railroad initiative to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate local historical places, museums, and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories.

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS)
This program documents important architectural, engineering and industrial sites, and landscapes throughout the United States and its territories. Their collections, including numerous African American sites, are archived at the Library of Congress and available online. You can view these by clicking on the link above and entering the search term "African American."

African American History and Culture: A Remembering
A CRM issue that explores aspects of African American heritage. (PDF format)

Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island 1619-1803
This on-line book (available as a large pdf) tells the story of Africans of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, from their point of arrival in the colony and ends with the establishment of a free black community.

American Visionaries: Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass has been called the father of the civil rights movement. He rose through determination, brilliance, and eloquence to shape the American nation. He was an abolitionist, human rights and women's rights activist, orator, author, journalist, publisher, and social reformer. This exhibit features items owned by Frederick Douglass and highlights his achievements. The items are in the museum and archival collections at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site at Cedar Hill, Southeast Washington, DC.

American Visionaries: Legends of Tuskegee
Who are the Legends of Tuskegee and what do they have in common? Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen all came to Tuskegee and created their own legends. Tuskegee is more than a town located in Macon County, Alabama. It was a bold experiment and a site of major African American achievements for over 100 years. This three-part web exhibit highlights the achievements of Washington, Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen.

Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site Historic Resource Study
Provides an historical overview of the historic park and identifies the park's cultural resources within its historic context.

A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and the historic places associated with the struggle for civil rights that captured the attention of the United States and the world.

National Museum of African American History and Culture
This planned museum will give voice to the centrality of the African American experience, and will make it possible for all people to understand the depth, complexity, and promise of the American experience.

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