When African American citizens founded the St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Helena, Montana, in 1888, their population topped 250 people in a city of roughly 12,000 souls. Located in Helena’s eastside residential district on 114 N. Hoback, the church building rested on … Read MoreSaint James African Methodist Episcopal Church, Helena, Montana (1888- )
Image Ownership: Public Domain The Freedmen’s Hospital was founded in 1862 in Washington, D.C. It was the first hospital of its kind to aid in the medical treatment of former slaves. Later it became the major hospital for the African American community in Washington, D.C. The … Read MoreFreedmen’s Hospital/Howard University Hospital (1862– )
Image Ownership: Public domain The 13th Street (St.) Colored Branch was a segregated public library established by the city of Meridian, Mississippi, in 1912 and opened in March 1913. It was one of the first free public libraries for African Americans in the state of … Read MoreThe 13th Street Colored Branch Library, Meridian, Mississippi (1913-1974)
“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 MoreMansion of Madame CJ Walker Villa Lewaro (1916– )
The Golden West Hotel was the first hotel in Portland, Oregon, to serve black patrons. William D. Allen, an entrepreneur from Tennessee and prominent member of the local black community, founded the hotel in 1906 to serve African-American railroad workers who were denied accommodations elsewhere … Read MoreGolden West Hotel Portland (1906–1931)
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" The A. Philip Randolph Institute was founded by and named for labor leader Asa Philip Randolph, who was the longtime president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union. Randolph and his friend and fellow activist Bayard Rustin founded APRI in … Read MoreA. Philip Randolph Institute (1965- )
"Image Ownership: Public Domain" Pearl High School, the most prominent black high school in Nashville, Tennessee, for nearly one century, opened its doors in the fall of 1883 on South Summer Street (now Fifth Avenue South). The first public school for blacks in Nashville, it … Read MorePearl High School (1897–1983)
Women at Walden University, No Date "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Walden University was a historically black co-educational college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1865 as a school for freedmen under the sponsorship of northern Methodist Episcopal Church missionaries. In late 1865, the Reverend … Read MoreWalden University (1865–1925)
The Wormley House, ca. 1884 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Just one block away from President’s Square, now Lafayette Square, in Washington, D.C. stood the Wormley House, one of the most prominent private hotels and social clubs of its time, and the only one owned by … Read MoreWormley House (1871–1893)
Laura Towne and the First Penn School Students in an Outdoor Classroom, 1862 "Image Ownership: Public Domain" Formerly The Penn School, The Penn Center is an African American cultural and educational center located on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. In 1862 during the second year … Read MoreThe Penn Center (1862 – )