Museum of African American History

Shedding light on history that must not be forgotten

Word to the wise: The Black Heritage Trail, a 1.6-mile walking tour around Boston led by a knowledgeable guide, is offered for free by the museum.
Africans first arrived in Boston as slaves in 1638. By the time of the American Revolution, however, more free black people than slaves were living in Massachusetts, and by 1790, the state was the only one that had no slaves recorded for the national census. In fact, abolition was a passionate cause for the Boston intelligentsia, among them the writer and orator Frederick Douglass.

Douglass delivered his rousing speeches in the African Meeting House, which now houses the Museum of African American History. The space is intimate and small, but the exhibits are informative and curated with keen insight. Its interior has been restored to its design from 1854 and contains historical documents, photographs, artifacts, and heirlooms.
The adjacent Abiel Smith School, the first building built as a public school for black children, houses exhibit galleries. In both buildings, the sense of momentous history and radical change is awe-inspiring.