African American History

Hospital Apprentices second class Ruth C. Isaacs, Katherine Horton and Inez Patterson (left to right) were the first black WAVES to enter the Hospital Corps School at National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, MD. Photographed March 2, 1945.

Photographs Document Some of the First Black Women to Serve With the U.S. Navy

Black women were not allowed to join WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) until 1944

New vistas remind visitors that the new museum presents a "view of America through the lens of the African-American experience."

Opening Day for the New African American History Museum Is Announced

Thirteen years in the making, the museum says it will open its doors September 24, 2016

The National Museum of African American History and Culture: Breaking Ground

Countdown begins towards the historic opening of the new national museum on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016

44 Years Ago, Shirley Chisholm Became the First Black Woman to Run For President

Chisholm saw her campaign as a necessary "catalyst for change"

An engraving showing the Pequot War

Colonial America Depended on the Enslavement of Indigenous People

The role of enslaving Native Americans in early American history is often overlooked

Jesse J. Holland's book, "The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House" offers new insight into lives of these men and women who lived in bondage in the White House.

The Slaves of the White House Finally Get to Have Their Stories Told

Long ignored by historians, the enslaved people of the White House are coming into focus through a new book by Jesse J. Holland

On the eve of Martin Luther King Day weekend, officials from the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture are announcing the recent gift of one of the rare copies of the 1970 Charles Alston sculpture of Martin Luther King.

A Rare and Important Sculpture of Martin Luther King

As the nation pauses to honor the great Civil Rights leader, Charles Alston’s work at NMAAHC is one of his most prominent pieces

A trial at the Destrehan Plantation sentenced 45 men from the uprising to death or to go to New Orleans for future trials.

How a Nearly Successful Slave Revolt Was Intentionally Lost to History

More than 500 slaves fought for their freedom in this oft-overlooked rebellion

Austin Reed learned to write as a juvenile prisoner. His handwritten manuscript runs 304 pages.

The Earliest Memoir by a Black Inmate Reveals the Long Legacy of Mass Incarceration

The story of "Rob Reed" is finally published, 150 years after his release

In a photograph by Devin Allen, a young girl holds a sign at a protest in Baltimore.

How the African American History Museum Is Curating "Black Lives Matter"

Photographs, posters and other artifacts documenting the protests find a home at the new Smithsonian museum

Get Reintroduced to Rosa Parks as a New Archive Reveals the Woman Behind the Boycott

The Rosa Parks collection adds depth to the story of the civil rights heroine

A group of escaped former slaves gathered at the plantation of Confederate General Thomas Drayton. After Federal troops occupied the plantation they began to harvest and gin cotton for their own profit

A Free Man's Letter to A Former Slaveowner in 1865

When asked to return to the farm where he was held in bondage, Jourdon Anderson wrote this thoughtful reply

Watch the African American History Museum Became a Giant Movie Screen

With state-of-the-art projection imagerie, acclaimed filmmaker Stanley J. Nelson's 3D video transformed the museum for three nights in November

A coffle of slaves being marched from Virginia west into Tennessee, c. 1850.

Retracing Slavery's Trail of Tears

America's forgotten migration – the journeys of a million African-Americans from the tobacco South to the cotton South

A dry farm field.

The Deep South, As Seen Through the Eyes of Renowned Photographer Steve McCurry

A new book written by travel writer Paul Theroux features images that chronicle life in this part of the country

Toni Tipton-Martin's book The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks gives readers a new look at African-American cooking history and culture.

What 200 Years of African-American Cookbooks Reveal About How We Stereotype Food

In a new book, food journalist Toni Tipton-Martin highlights African-American culinary history through hundreds of pages of recipes

A suggestion to change our vocabulary when we talk about American History

A Proposal to Change the Words We Use When Talking About the Civil War

Historian Michael Landis writes that vocabulary like “compromise” or “Union” shape how we view our past

The Oldest City in the United States

St. Augustine, Florida, was the first city founded by European settlers in North America

Emmett Till was murdered in Money, Mississippi, for allegedly flirting with a white woman.

Emmett Till's Open Casket Funeral Reignited the Civil Rights Movement

Mamie Till Mobley's decision for her slain son's ceremony was a major moment in Civil Rights history.

In Ferguson, Missouri, a protester holds a rose during an August demonstration on W. Florissant Avenue, which intersects with Canfield Drive—the street where Michael Brown was killed.

Photos From the Heart of the Ferguson Protests

The events sparked by the killing of young Michael Brown gave rise to a new civil rights movement that's still growing

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