Five Smithsonian Objects to Honor Black History Month

Learn Black history with these objects from the National Museum of African American History and Culture

1. Tuskegee Airmen flight jacket

African American fighter pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves overseas during World War II, flying thousands of sorties and destroying scores of enemy aircraft, locomotives, and vessels.

2. Ambrotype of Qualls Tibbs

After President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, the federal government began recruiting among free Black people and escaped slaves in the North. By the end of the war, almost 200,000 African Americans were serving in the Union Army—nearly 10 percent of its strength.

This ambrotype of Qualls Tibbs, a sergeant in the 27th Infantry Regiment of the United States Colored Troops. Although wounded, Tibbs survived the war and lived until 1922.

3. Pullman porter coat

In the early twentieth century, a job as a Pullman porter meant status for African American men. Although catering to passenger needs in the famous sleeping cars could be menial, the wages were good, and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters was a powerful and protective Black labor union.

4. Peter Bentzon teapot

Peter Bentzon (ca. 1783–after 1850) was not only a free man; he was also a silversmith and jeweler who worked in Philadelphia and on the Caribbean island of St. Croix. Bentzon’s work is recognized today for his excellent craftsmanship, unique design, and quality materials.

5. The Hope School desk

The Hope School in Pomaria, Newberry County, South Carolina, opened in 1925, thanks in part to a grant from the Julius Rosenwald Fund. The Fund assisted thousands of black communities throughout the South who raised matching funds to provide their schools with teachers, supplies, and students. It closed in 1954 when new public schools were established in Newberry County to provide so-called equal, but still separate, facilities for white children and African American children.

Read more in National Museum of African American History and Culture: A Souvenir Book, which is available from Smithsonian Books. Visit Smithsonian Books’ website to learn more about its publications and a full list of titles. 

Excerpt from National Museum of African American History and Culture: A Souvenir Book Text © 2016 by Smithsonian Institution