Top Black history destinations include the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, the Legacy Museum in Montgomery, the International African American Museum in Charleston, and Greenwood Rising in Tulsa. Dozens of National Park Service sites preserve the homes and workplaces of figures such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman.
Confirm hours before you go. Several of the official pages linked below were last updated years ago.
The national museum
The National Museum of African American History and Culture opened September 24, 2016, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., next to the Washington Monument. It holds nearly 45,000 artifacts, about 3,000 of them on display (Smithsonian).
The South
| Place | City | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Africatown Heritage House | Mobile, AL | Tells the story of the Clotilda and the town its survivors founded, with pieces of the ship. Opened July 8, 2023. |
| Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice | Montgomery, AL | The first national memorial to victims of racial terror lynching, plus a museum on slavery through mass incarceration. Opened April 26, 2018. |
| Edmund Pettus Bridge | Selma, AL | Site of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, on the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail. |
| 16th Street Baptist Church and Birmingham Civil Rights Institute | Birmingham, AL | The 1963 bombing killed four girls. The institute, opened in 1992, anchors the city's Civil Rights District. |
| Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site | Tuskegee, AL | Moton Field, where nearly 1,000 Black pilots began flight training in World War II. |
| Gee's Bend | Boykin, AL | Home of the quilts. The Welcome Center has a history timeline, plus a heritage trail, guided tours, and quilting workshops with local makers. |
| National Civil Rights Museum | Memphis, TN | At the former Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Established 1991. |
| Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park | Atlanta, GA | King's boyhood home, historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the Sweet Auburn neighborhood. |
| International African American Museum | Charleston, SC | On Gadsden's Wharf, where enslaved Africans were forced ashore. Opened June 27, 2023. |
| Reconstruction Era National Historical Park | Beaufort County, SC | Penn School, Brick Baptist Church, and Camp Saxton. No admission fee. |
| Greenwood Rising | Tulsa, OK | History center for the Greenwood District and the 1921 massacre. Open Tuesday through Sunday. |
Plan an Alabama trip. Mobile, Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham, and Tuskegee can be visited in one route. In Mobile, explore the city today with The Mobile Edit for nearby restaurants, events, and Black-owned businesses.
Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic
| Place | City | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Frederick Douglass National Historic Site | Washington, DC | Cedar Hill, Douglass's home for his last seventeen years. Ranger-led house tours only. |
| Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site | Washington, DC | Home of the founder of Black History Month. |
| African American Civil War Memorial | Washington, DC | Lists 209,145 names of U.S. Colored Troops soldiers. |
| Mary McLeod Bethune Council House | Washington, DC | Honors the educator who became the first Black woman to head a federal agency. |
| Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site | Richmond, VA | Walker's Jackson Ward home, furnished with original family pieces. |
The Northeast
| Place | City | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Black American National Historic Site | Boston, MA | The 1.6-mile Black Heritage Trail, the African Meeting House (1806), and the Abiel Smith School (1834). |
| African Burial Ground National Monument | New York, NY | Burial ground for free and enslaved Africans from about 1650 to 1795, rediscovered in 1991. |
| The Studio Museum in Harlem | New York, NY | Founded in 1968. Opened a new building in November 2025. |
| Harriet Tubman National Historical Park | Auburn, NY | Where Tubman lived and worked from 1859 until her death in 1913. Her grave is nearby. |
The Midwest
| Place | City | Why go |
|---|---|---|
| DuSable Black History Museum | Chicago, IL | Founded in 1961 by Margaret and Charles Burroughs. Describes itself as the nation's oldest independent Black history museum. |
Find more places
- The Association of African American Museums directory lists member museums by state.
- The National Park Service Network to Freedom lists more than 800 Underground Railroad sites in forty states.
- The National Park Service We Shall Overcome itinerary maps civil rights places.
Sources
Every fact on this page links to the source beside it. All sources cited:
- Smithsonian · si.edu
- Africatown Heritage House · encyclopediaofalabama.org
- Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and Justice · eji.org
- Edmund Pettus Bridge · home.nps.gov
- 16th Street Baptist Church · home.nps.gov
- Birmingham Civil Rights Institute · blackpast.org
- Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site · nps.gov
- Gee's Bend · geesbend.org
- National Civil Rights Museum · civilrightsmuseum.org
- Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park · home.nps.gov
- International African American Museum · wunc.org
- Reconstruction Era National Historical Park · home.nps.gov
- Greenwood Rising · greenwoodrising.org
- Frederick Douglass National Historic Site · nps.gov
- Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site · nps.gov
- African American Civil War Memorial · nps.gov
- Mary McLeod Bethune Council House · nps.gov
- Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site · nps.gov
- Boston Black American National Historic Site · nps.gov
- African Burial Ground National Monument · home.nps.gov
- The Studio Museum in Harlem · esd.ny.gov
- Harriet Tubman National Historical Park · nps.gov
- DuSable Black History Museum · dusablemuseum.org
- Association of African American Museums directory · blackmuseums.org
- Network to Freedom · nps.gov
- We Shall Overcome itinerary · nps.gov