Celebrate African American History Month 2005--A National Register of Historic Places Feature

[graphic header] National Register of Historic Places African American History Month

Team photo of the 1935 Pttsburgh Crawford, one of the Negro National League teams to play at Hinchliffe Stadium, one of this year's featured historic properties.
Courtesy of Brian LoPinto and the Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium

The National Register of Historic Places is pleased to promote awareness of and appreciation for the historical accomplishments of African Americans during African American History Month. As part of the celebration, this site showcases historic properties listed in the National Register, National Register publications, and National Park units commemorating the events and people, the designs and achievements that help illustrate African Americans' contributions to American history. Join the National Register in paying powerful tribute to the spirit of African Americans.

Alfred Street Baptist Church, one of the African American Historic Resources of Alexandria, Virginia, Multiple Property Submission
Photo by Shannon Bell

• Hinchliffe Stadium, Patterson, NJ
• Xavier University Main Building, Convent and Library , New Orleans, LA
•Ivey Delph Apartments, New York City, NY
• African American Historic Resources of Alexandria, Virginia, Multiple Property Submission

[photo]
African American Historic Places

African American Historic Places

(ISBN 0-471-14345-6) describes more than 800 properties in 42 States and 2 U.S. Territories listed in the National Register of Historic Places that have played a role in African American history. Banks, cemeteries, clubs, colleges, forts, homes, hospitals, schools, and shops are but a few of the types of properties explored in this volume, which is an invaluable reference guide for researchers, historians, preservationists, and anyone interested in African American culture. Also included are eight insightful essays on the African American experience, from migration to the role of women, from the Harlem Renaissance to the Civil Rights Movement.
(Available from John Wiley & Sons at 1-800-225-5945)

[Photo] Courtesy of A'Lelia Bundles/Walker Family Collection.
[Photo] Courtesy of Indiana Division of Historic Preservation and Archaeology.
Madam Walker (top) featured in the TwHP lesson, Two American Entrepreneurs: Madam C.J. Walker and J.C. Penney and Little Rock Central High School (bottom), the subject of From Canterbury to Little Rock: The Struggle for Educational Equality for African Americans (bottom photo by and courtesy of Tod Swiecichowski)

Teaching with Historic Places
This program offers a series of award-winning lesson plans that use places listed in the National Register to enliven the study of history, social studies, and geography. TwHP has many ready-to-use lesson plans, available for free downloading, that examine different aspects of African American history. Titles include:

~Coming Soon~
Brown v. Board: Five Communities that Changed America

The World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area travel itinerary includes Fort Cronkhite, where artillery men of the 54th Coast Artillery Regiment were quartered.
Photo courtesy of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. PAM Prints Collection.

National Register Travel Itineraries
Travel to historic places that convey the courageous and inspiring stories of African Americans from their perseverance along the Underground Railroad to freedoms gained during their struggle for civil rights, from Atlanta's Sweet Auburn places to Chicago's Black Metropolis. Be sure to visit the many newly recognized historic places that were added to our itineraries during the past year.

• Amistad: Seeking Freedom in Connecticut ~NEW~
Explore the historic places in Connecticut that tell the story of the Mende Africans' who arrived there on the Amistad after being illegally captured and enslaved.

World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area ~NEW~
Learn how African Americans contributed to the overall war effort, and specifically at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial, where 202 black serviceman tragically lost their lives.
Asheville, North Carolina ~NEW~
Learn more about the community of African Americans that have long called Asheville home, at places such as Mt. Zion Baptist Church, the Young Men's Institute, African American Masonic Temple and St. Matthias Episcopal Church.
Virginia Main Street Communities ~NEW~
Discover the traditionally racially mixed neighborhood of Stuart Addition in Staunton.
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands ~NEW~
Read about a six-month African slave revolt at Frostberg.
Aboard the Underground Railroad
You probably know about John Brown and Harriet Tubman, but have you heard of Owen Lovejoy and John P. Parker? Learn about these and many other Underground Railroad activists and the historic places they used while resisting slavery. Several Underground Railroad sites have been added to the itinerary recently, including: Reuben Benedict House, Samuel and Sally Wilson House, James and Sophia Clemens Farmstead, Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims, Nathan and Mary Johnson House, Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church and Mount Zion Cemetery, Bruin's Slave Jail and the Barney L. Ford Building.
We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement
This itinerary leads you to 49 fascinating historic places located throughout the United States associated with the modern Civil Rights Movement, including these new sites: Modjeska Monteith Simkins House, New Kent School and George W. Wakins School, Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Frederick Douglass Memorial Hall, and Founders Library, John Philip Sousa Junior High School, Bethel AME Church, Bizzell Library at the University of Oklahoma and the Daisy Bates House.
Atlanta, Georgia
The African American experience in Atlanta is one of progress and perseverance, and can been discovered at places such as the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Historic Site, Sweet Auburn Historic District, Atlanta University Center District and Stone Hall, Herndon Home, Washington Park Historic District, Booker T. Washington High School, and Oakland Cemetery.
Aviation: From Sand Dunes to Sonic Booms
Find out about the contributions African Americans made to aviation during World War II at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site.
Historic Charleston's Religious and Community Buildings
Charleston, South Carolina, contains a variety of places that reflect African American history including an Old Slave Mart, churches such as Central Baptist, Old Bethel Methodist, and Emanuel AME, and the Avery Institute--the city's first free secondary school for African Americans, now a museum and archives for African American history and culture.
Chicago, Illinois
Visit Chicago's Overton Hygienic Building, the Chicago Bee Building, or the Wabash Avenue YMCA to learn more about the vibrant community known as the Black Metropolis.
Detroit, Michigan
Visit Detroit's Dunbar Hospital, the Ossian Sweet House, and the Second Street Baptist Church to learn more about Detroit's African American history.
Lexington, Kentucky.
Find out more about African Americans in Lexington at the First African Baptist Church and South Hill Historic District.
Southeastern Louisiana
Learn more about Louisiana's African American history by visiting St. John the Baptist Church in the historic African American community of Dorseyville; surviving slave quarters like those at Evergreen Plantation or the Cherie Quarter Cabins--birthplace of author Ernest J. Gaines; Carter Plantation, built in 1820 by free black Thomas Freeman; and Port Hudson, where free blacks and slaves fought for the Union.
Washington, DC
Our nation's capital is home to significant African American historic sites such as DAR Constitution Hall, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site. This itinerary also highlights numerous lesser-known sites such as the Ralph Bunche House, Lincoln Park, Anacostia HD, Mt. Zion Cemetery, Striver's Section HD, Charles Sumner School, Metropolitan AME Church, Greater 14th Street HD, Greater U Street HD, Mary Church Terrell House, Mary McLeod Bethune House, General Oliver Otis Howard House, and Blagden Alley--Naylor Court HD.

[photo] Maggie L. Walker, Wms. Burg Photo Company, Brooklyn, New York, c. 1900
National Park Service photograph courtesy of Maggie L. Walker NHS

Featured Park

• Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site

Cultural Resources Diversity Program
A highlight of the National Park Service's on-going efforts to reflect the diversity of American culture.

Our Shared History: Celebrating African American History & Culture
An ongoing effort to provide a comprehensive list of African American related resources located within the National Park Service web pages.

African American History and Culture: A Remembering
A CRM issue that explores African American heritage in the National Park Service architecture. Note: This magazine is in PDF format and loading time may take a bit longer for some users.

Africans and African Americans on Jamestown Island 1619-1803
This on-line book (available as a large pdf) tells the story of Africans of the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, from their point of arrival in the colony and ends with the establishment of a free black community.

American Visionaries: Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass has been called the father of the civil rights movement. He rose through determination, brilliance, and eloquence to shape the American nation. He was an abolitionist, human rights and women's rights activist, orator, author, journalist, publisher, and social reformer. This exhibit features items owned by Frederick Douglass and highlights his achievements. The items are in the museum and archival collections at the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site at Cedar Hill, Southeast Washington, DC.

American Visionaries: Legends of Tuskegee
Who are the Legends of Tuskegee and what do they have in common? Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen all came to Tuskegee and created their own legends. Tuskegee is more than a town located in Macon County, Alabama. It was a bold experiment and a site of major African American achievements for over 100 years. This three-part web exhibit highlights the achievements of Washington, Carver and the Tuskegee Airmen.

Martin Luther King Jr., National Historic Site Historic Resource Study
Provides an historical overview of the historic park and identifies the park's cultural resources within its historic context.

National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program
The National Park Service is implementing a national Underground Railroad initiative to coordinate preservation and education efforts nationwide and integrate local historical places, museums, and interpretive programs associated with the Underground Railroad into a mosaic of community, regional, and national stories.

Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)
The HABS/HAER program documents important architectural, engineering and industrial sites throughout the United States and its territories. Their collections, including numerous African American sites, are archived at the Library of Congress and available online. You can view these by clicking on the link above and entering the search term "African American."

National Museum of African American History and Culture
This planned museum will give voice to the centrality of the African American experience, and will make it possible for all people to understand the depth, complexity, and promise of the American experience.

A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday and the historic places associated with the struggle for civil rights that captured the attention of the United States and the world.

African American History Month 2004, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000
For more information about African American historic places listed in the National Register, please visit these past features.

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