The following are short descriptions of the places which have contributed to the shaping of African American history. These encyclopedia entries serve as a starting point for much more inclusive descriptions and discussions that appear in other sources. For additional information please consult the print or website sources cited in the entry.
Image Courtesy of Matthew Griffis The East Henry Street Carnegie Library is a branch of the Live Oak Public Libraries in Savannah, Georgia. It originally opened in 1914 as the Colored Carnegie Library, one of twelve segregated public libraries in the south funded by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and … Read MoreEast Henry Street Carnegie Library, Savannah, Georgia (1914- )
Sunday School Class at Blackdom, New Mexico Image Ownership: Public domain In the early 1900s, the Pecos Valley Region of Southeastern New Mexico Territory experienced an economic boom because of an influx of settlers into the area. African American families were among those settlers. They … Read MoreBlackdom, New Mexico (1903-1930)
Compton is a city in Southern California, located in south Los Angeles County. Compton was settled in 1867 by thirty pioneer families led by Griffith Dickenson Compton, after whom the city was named. The first black families came to the city just before World War … Read MoreCompton, California (1867- )
Freedmen’s Town is a nationally registered historical site. The site was originally a community located in the fourth ward of Houston, Texas that began in 1865 as the destination for former enslaved people from surrounding plantations in Texas and Louisiana after the Civil War. Freedmen’s … Read MoreFreedmen’s Town, Houston, Texas (1865- )
The prohibition of alcohol in the United States during the early 20th century didn’t really affect the nightclubbing scene in Los Angeles, California, especially in the Culver City area during the 1920s. Sebastian’s Cotton Club, at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and National Street, was … Read MoreSebastian’s Cotton Club Culver City, California (1926-1938)
Frenchtown, a community built in 1922 in Houston, Texas, was constructed by hundreds of Creole descendants of free French, Spanish, and African people living in southwestern Louisiana in the eighteenth century. Coming to Houston for economic opportunities, they settled and created this community because of … Read MoreFrenchtown Houston, Texas (1922- )
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” Villa Lewaro, built by Madam C.J. Walker from 1918 to 1918, is a thirty-four-room, 20,000-square-foot mansion located at Fargo Lane and North Broadway in Irvington, New York. The estate is situated near the resident of the Franklin D. Roosevelt family on … Read MoreVilla Lewaro, The Mansion of Madam C.J. Walker (1916– )
1140 Royal Street, New Orleans, Site of the LaLaurie “Image Ownership: Public Domain” The LaLaurie Mansion, located at 1140 Royal Street, New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous as the site of the torture and murder of a number of enslaved people owned by Marie Delphine Macarty … Read MoreThe LaLaurie Mansion 1832
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” The Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, grew into the most famous and prosperous black urban community in the United States during the early 1900s. Dubbed the “Negro Wall Street” by educator Booker T. Washington, this community had a flourishing population that … Read MoreDeep Greenwood (Tulsa), Oklahoma (1906–)
Albina Neighborhood, 1962 (Oregon Historical Society) “Image Ownership: Oregon Historical Society” Albina is a neighborhood located in Northeast Portland, Oregon that for most of the 20th century was home to the majority of the city’s African American population. Before it was annexed into Portland in … Read MoreAlbina, Portland, Oregon (1870- )