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Museum of African American History

The Museum of African American History was founded to preserve and interpret the contributions of people of African descent and those who have found common cause with them in the struggle for liberty and justice for all Americans. Through permanent and rotating exhibits, a wide range of public and education programs ranging from debates to concerts, and summer youth camps to Underground Railroad Overnight Adventures, it places the African American experience in an accurate social, cultural and historical perspective. Incorporated in 1967, the Museum is nationally and internationally known for The African Meeting House, a National Historic Landmark, and Abiel Smith School on Boston's Beacon Hill, The African Meeting House on Nantucket, and Black Heritage Trails® in Boston and Nantucket.

http://www.afroammuseum.org/

The Power of Public Monuments & Why They Matter

Wed, Jan 9, 2019

[The Shaw 54th Memorial on the Boston Common](https://www.nps.gov/boaf/learn/historyculture/shaw.htm "Shaw Memorial info") has been called “one of the monuments that changed America.” More than 120 years ago the bronze sculpture was placed strategically on Boston Common opposite the Massachusetts State House and dedicated to "the group of men who were among the first African Americans to fight in [the Civil] war." As plans get underway to restore the memorial, four organizations—the National Parks Service, the City of Boston, Friends of the Public Garden, and the Museum of African American History— convened citizens together for a conversation to deepen dialogue about race, freedom, and justice and raise awareness of the significance of the memorial and the story it tells. **About the Renewal of the Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial** The Shaw 54th Regiment Memorial is at the heart of a powerful narrative that unfolds along Boston’s Black History Trail. The sculpture and its foundation requires significant upgrades to assure its longevity. A new partnership has been established to undertake a complete $2.8 million restoration of the Memorial to stabilize the monument. The work is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2019. Image: [Wikicommons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gould_Shaw_Memorial#/media/File:St_GaudensShaw_Mem.jpg "Wikicommons")

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Museum of African American History
Afrofuturism and the Black Comix Archive

Fri, Sep 21, 2018

As part of a two-day Afrofuturism and Black Comix symposium celebrating black creativity, hosted by The Museum of African American History in Boston, artist John Jennings lectures on Sequential Sankofa: Critical Nostalgia, Afrofuturism and the Black Comix Archive. Image: Event Materials

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Museum of African American History
Frederick Douglass: Images & Words

Wed, Feb 14, 2018

In commemoration of Frederick Douglass' 200th birthday and the Museum of African American History's acclaimed exhibit, Picturing Frederick Douglass: The Most Photographed American of the 19th Century, join us for a panel discussion and Q&A with some of the leading experts on Frederick Douglass's life and legacy.

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Museum of African American History
Joy Reid and Jelani Cobb: Race in the Public Dialogue

Thu, Nov 16, 2017

As we witness an outpouring of public expression about racial differences in the news and via social media, we sense a tension over the nature of lawful civic engagement and around the obligations between citizens and their government. Young adults especially are raising fundamental questions about the responsiveness of American democracy. As part of its mission, the Museum of African American History will use this forum to provide opportunities for people to engage in constructive dialogue about civil and human rights issues. The conversation with Joy Reid, political analyst for MSNBC and host of “AM Joy,” and Jelani Cobb, Professor of Journalism at Columbia University, will be moderated by Callie Crossley, host of Under the Radar with Callie Crossley on WGBH Radio. In view of the current social climate in this country, MAAH will produce a series of panel discussions entitled _Millennium Conversation: Race in the Public Dialogue_ through which we are asking activists, journalists, and academic and business leaders to address the current societal issues.

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Boston Talks About Racism

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Museum of African American History
Frederick Douglass: Revolutionizing Race and Photography

Thu, Jul 14, 2016

Frederick Douglass was in love with photography. From his earliest known photograph in 1841 until his passing in 1895, he sat for his portrait whenever he could and became the most photographed American of the nineteenth century; more photographed than President Abraham Lincoln. In this first major exhibition of Douglass photographs, we offer a visually stunning re-introduction to America’s first black celebrity — immediately recognizable in his own lifetime by millions. Scholars John Stauffer and Zoe Trodd are the co-curators of the exhibit [Picturing Frederick Douglass](http://maah.org/exhibits.htm ""), based upon their acclaimed book about the famed abolitionist’s photographs. They join Dr. Manisha Sinha, author of_The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition,_ to discuss the impact of the wide distribution of images of Douglass.

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Museum of African American History
Profiles in Color: Marvin Gilmore

Thu, May 19, 2016

Descended of enslaved grandparents, **Marvin Gilmore** has had an illustrious career worthy of special tribute. WCVB/Channel 5's **Karen Holmes Ward** talks with the distinguished veteran, civil rights activist, and entrepreneur about meeting world leaders, from presidents and governors to renowned musicians and business leaders.

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Museum of African American History
"Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired": Celebrating Freedom Heroes

Fri, Mar 25, 2016

Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her passing in 1977. Integral to Freedom Summer 1964, Hamer's speeches spurred the nation to support equal and voting rights causes. Author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Ekua Holmes discuss their 2015 book, Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, which honors Hamer's life and legacy with a message of hope, strength and determination. The Museum of African American History's Director of Education and Interpretation, L'Merchie Frazier, introduces the conversation about Hamer as well as other freedom heroes featured in And Still We Rise: Race, Culture, and Visual Conversations, an exhibit companion book ranging from pioneering poet Phillis Wheatley to famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass to the distinguished Tuskegee Airmen. Frazier is also the visual and performing artist who wrote the Foreword to And Still We Rise, the first visual history published to utilize African American quilting to chronicle the black experience in America from 1619 to 2013.

Image: Warren K. Leffler; restored by Adam Cuerden [Public domain], via [Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fannie_Lou_Hamer_1964-08-22.jpg "Fannie Lou Hamer"), image cropped)

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Museum of African American History
Frederick Douglass: The Most Photographed Man of the 19th Century

Thu, Oct 1, 2015

Teeming with historical detail, _Picturing Frederick Douglass: An Illustrated Biography of the Nineteenth Century's Most Photographed American_, is a book that will revolutionize our knowledge of race and photography in 19th-century America. The book is filled with surprises. Chief among them is the assertion that neither President Abraham Lincoln, nor General George Custer, nor poet Walt Whitman was the most photographed American of the 1800s. That honor belongs to Frederick Douglass. **Dr. John Stauffer** of Harvard University, and **Dr. Zoe Trodd** of the University of Nottingham reveal images from their visual biography. As a result of their groundbreaking research, the formerly enslaved abolitionist leader, eloquent orator, and seminal writer -- whose fiery speeches transformed him into one of the most renowned and popular agitators of his age, emerges as a leading pioneer in photography.

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Museum of African American History
All Men Free and Brethren: Prince Hall and Black Freemasonry

Thu, Sep 10, 2015

The evening, presented by MAAH, the National Park Service Boston African American National HIstoric Site, and the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Massachsetts, features two of its leaders joined by the co-editors of All Men Free and Brethren: Essays on the History of African American Freemasonry to present powerful stories of black Freemasons and their impact on the making of America.

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Museum of African American History
50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

Thu, Aug 6, 2015

On the day marking 50 years since President Johnson and the U.S. Congress signed the Voting Rights Act into law, a distinguished collection of leaders and activists convened by the [Museum of African American History](http://forum-network.org/partner/museum-african-american-history/ "MAAH Partner Page") and the [Social Justice Institute at Boston University](http://www.bu.edu/cpt/2015/03/25/social-justice-institute-poverty-race-and-sexuality/ "SJI at BU"), will discuss how our pioneers of social justice understood the pleas of a marginalized people and led the charge for equality. Frederick Douglass underscored the importance of the vote when he declared, “Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot,” in a speech delivered May 1865. Nearly 100 years later, voting rights continued to be a focus of the modern civil rights movement, with a march from Selma, Alabama to the state capital in Montgomery on March 7, 1965. This peaceful protest was met by an attack by state troopers at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge. Following years of organized campaigns for equal rights and attacks against protestors, culminated by the violence on what is now known as “Bloody Sunday,” moved President Johnson and the U.S. Congress to act. Five months later on August 6, the Voting Rights Act was signed into law. Challenges to this 1965 milestone, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other landmark decisions continue to be met by all manner of resistance. (Image: Lyndon Johnson signs Voting Rights Act of 1965//en.wikipedia.org)

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Civil Rights Movement Series

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Museum of African American History

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