Highlighting Black Museum Spaces, Cultural Heritage Sites, and Landmarks

Black spaces like museums, cultural sites, and landmarks have always held a special place personally and professionally. These spaces and sites hold the memories, embody the knowledge, and offer a place to be at peace. As noted by Joy Bivins, director of collections and research services at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture “Black history museums began to exist in the mid-20th century as a response to Black Americans not being in existing museums.” Therefore, it is essential that these spaces and places exist!!

So if you are thinking about a roadtrip, wanting to take the family on an excursion, or just need a place to (re)explore, make a visit to one of these notable museum spaces:

• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History (Detroit, MI): Through dozens of permanent and visiting exhibitions, over 150 learning and engagement programs, as well as education and research opportunities for adults, children, and visiting scholars, The Wright inspires visitors toward greater understanding, acceptance, and unity by reflecting on the triumphs and tragedies of African American history.

• National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta, GA): The National Center for Civil and Human Rights is a museum and human rights organization in Atlanta that inspires people to tap their own power to change the world around them. The Center’s iconic exhibitions feature the papers and artifacts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; the history of the civil rights movement in the United States; and stories from the struggle for human rights around the world today.

• The Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration (Montgomery, AL): On the site of a cotton warehouse where enslaved Black people were forced to labor in bondage, the Legacy Museum tells the story of slavery in America and its legacy through interactive media, first-person narratives, world-class art, and data-rich exhibits. Travel through a comprehensive history of the destructive violence that shaped our nation, from the slave trade, to the era of Jim Crow and racial terror lynchings, to our current mass incarceration crisis—and find inspiration in our soaring Reflection Space and world-class art gallery.

• The Raise Up sculpture [on the grounds of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice] (Montgomery, AL): Raise Up is a monumental bronze and cement sculpture permanently living on the grounds of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice established by The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). The site is a sacred six-acre space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America and its legacy.

• Hampton University Museum (Hampton, VA): Founded in 1868, the Hampton University Museum is the nation’s oldest African American museum and one of the oldest museums in Virginia. With galleries dedicated to African American, African, Native American, Asian and Pacific art and artifacts. The museum contains more than 9,000 objects representing cultures and people from around the world. Within its fine arts collection is the largest existing collection of works in any museum by the artists John Biggers, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence and Samella Lewis.

• Mary McLeod Bethune Council House (Washington, DC): This house was the first national headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women, Inc. (NCNW) and was Mary McLeod Bethune’s last home in Washington, DC. From here, Bethune and the NCNW spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interests of African American women.

• Little Rock Central High School National Historic Park (Little Rock, AR): Explore the stories, people, and places that make up the moments of Central High’s desegregation by the Little Rock Nine and learn how the sacrifice and struggle over a half-century ago have provided opportunities and opened doors to those seeking equality—and education—around the world.

• Mama Dip’s Kitchen (Chapel Hill, NC): Founded in 1976 by the Mildred Cotton Council Mama Dip’s Kitchen is a longtime fixture serving traditional Southern country cooking from breakfast to dinner plus Sunday brunch.

• International African American Museum (Charleston, SC): The International African American Museum tells the unvarnished stories of the African American experience across generations, the trauma and triumph that gave rise to a resilient people.

Just know, this is just snapshot into where you can go!! Trust me when I say there are plenty more!! See For Yourself Here!

Here are a few new museums to be on the lookout for:

• National Juneteenth Museum, (Scheduled to open Juneteenth 2025 in Fort Worth, Texas)
• The Virginia African American Cultural Center (Scheduled to open in 2028 in Virginia Beach, VA)