Category Archives: African American History Sites

Phyllis Wheatley YWCA

The YWCA is a global organization that dates back to 1855. It started in London when philanthropist Mary Jane Kinnaird founded the North London Home to help house and support single women migrating into the city. She then merged the Home with the Prayer Union, an organization started by Christian activist Emma Robarts, to create…

The Charles Sumner School in Washington, D.C., named after U.S. Senator Charles Sumner, dates back to 1872. It was designed by Adolph Cluss, a German-born architect who was also known for his work on other significant schools and museums in the city. The school was one of the first to accommodate the Black community in…

The Howard Theatre is one of the most notable theaters in Washington, D.C. At the time of its opening in 1910 it was considered to be largest colored one of its kind, as it mostly catered towards African Americans; however, it soon gained the nickname “Theater of the People” because during a time of segregation,…

Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site

The Mary McLeod Bethune Council House is a national historic site in Washington, D.C. preserving the memory of one of the most prominent African American women in history. The site is a three-story Victorian townhouse and a two-story carriage house, in which the National Archives for Black Women’s History is housed. Since the years Bethune…

The Anacostia Community Museum (ACM) is one of the twenty museums under the Smithsonian Institute. It represents the Anacostia neighborhood in Washington, D.C., of which the majority of the population has been African American since the 1960s. At this time the Smithsonian’s secretary S. Dillon Ripley proposed to create a museum that could reach this…

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