James E. Lewis Museum of Art | Baltimore, MD

Carved by Nigerian artist Lamidi Fakeye from the hard wood of the Iroko tree, these doors grace the
entrance of Morgan State University’s fine art museum.

Established in 1951 and renamed in 1990 after its founder, the James E. Lewis Museum of Art (JELMA) brings to life the vision of this artist and former Morgan State professor. Located in the Carl J. Murphy Fine Arts Center, the museum is a multicultural platform of works by emerging and established artists, many of whom have gone on to national and international recognition. With a collection of over 4,000 pieces of art, the museum presents art from antiquity to contemporary times, including 19th- and 20th-century American, European and traditional African art. The museum also displays the art of Morgan State faculty members and students.

Find out more about Maryland’s black heritage sites and attractions in the Maryland African American Heritage Guide.

Click on thumbnail images to enlarge:

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James E. Lewis Museum of Art
Murphy Fine Arts Center
Morgan State University
1700 E Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, Maryland 21251
Phone: 443-885-3030
Website: www.murphyfineartscenter.org
Map & Driving Directions

Mary Mcleod Bethune Council House | Washington D.C.

Mary McLeod Bethune achieved her greatest national and international recognition at this Washington, DC townhouse, which is now a National Historic Site operated by the U.S. Park Service. The house was not only her last home in Washington, DC, but also served as the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). From here, Bethune and the Council spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interests of African American women and the Black community.

Today, the site houses the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Museum and the National Archives for Black Women’s History. The Archives, which houses the largest manuscript collection of materials pertaining to black women and their organizations, contains extensive correspondence, photographs, and memorabilia relating to Mary McLeod Bethune. Both the museum and archives actively collect artifacts, clothing, artwork, and other materials which document the history of black women and the black community.

Find out more about Maryland’s black heritage sites and attractions in the Maryland African American Heritage Guide.

If You Go………

Stop by Lincoln Park on Capitol Hill to see the Mary McLeod Bethune Memorial Statue, the first ever commissioned to honor an African-American woman.

Who Was Mary McLeod Bethune?

Mary McLeod Bethune, born on July 10, 1875,  was the 15th of 17 children of former slaves.  Despite growing up amidst poverty and oppression of the Reconstruction South, she took an early interest in her own education.  With the help of benefactors, Bethune attended college hoping to become a missionary in Africa. When that did not materialize, she founded the Daytona Educational and Industrial School for Negro Girls in Daytona Beach, Florida, in 1904. From six students it grew and merged with an Cookman Institute for black boys and eventually became known as Bethune-Cookman College. Its quality far surpassed the standards of education for black students at the time, rivaling those of many white schools. Bethune worked tirelessly to ensure funding for the school, and used it as a showcase for tourists and donors, to exhibit what educated black people could do. She was president of the college from 1923 to 1942 and 1946 to 1947, one of the few women in the world who served as a college president at that time. In 2007, the school became Bethune-Cookman University. Mary McLeod Bethune also served as an advisor on African American affairs to four presidents. She was appointed Director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Roosevelt. She was the first African American woman to hold so high an office in the federal government.

What is the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW)?

The National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) is a council of national African American women’s organizations and community-based sections. Founded in 1935 by Mary McLeod Bethune, the NCNW mission is to lead, develop, and advocate for women of African descent as they support their families and communities. (from www.ncnw.org). Expressing a desire to see black women united to “meet the unfolding of larger things,” the organization decided on the following objectives: to promote unity of action among women’s organizations in matters affecting the educational, cultural, economic, political and social life in America; to build a fellowship of women devoted to developing friendly relations among all people in the world; to collect and preserve information about and affecting women; and to work for the complete elimination of any and all forms of discrimination and segregation based on race, religion, color, national origin and sex.

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Mary McLeod Bethune Council House
1318 Vermont Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20005-3607
Phone (Visitor Information): (202) 673-2402
Official Website
Map & Driving Directions

Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park | Baltimore, MD

• Maryland’s African American maritime history

• The saga of Frederick Douglass’s life in Baltimore as an enslaved child and young man

• The life of Isaac Myers, a free born African American who became a national leader

• The founding of the Chesapeake Marine Railway and Dry Dock Company

• The establishment of the African American Community in Baltimore during the 1800’s

• Shipbuilding traditions of the Chesapeake bay

The center features over 5,000 square feet of exhibition space, divided into permanent and temporary galleries and interactive learning centers, featuring historic maps and images, artistic renderings, audio/visual components, historic artifacts, and archaeological findings.

Find out more about Maryland’s black heritage sites and attractions in the Maryland African American Heritage Guide.

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Frederick Douglass Isaac Myers Maritime Park
Address: 1417 Thames Street, Baltimore, MD 21231
Phone: 410.685.0295
Official Website: www.douglassmyers.org
Map @ Driving Directions

Photo Credit: Carosaurus

UK Black History Month | London, England

While Blacks in the U.S. may lament the celebration of Black History Month in February — the shortest month of the calendar year— Black Brits have the luxury of celebrating the contributions of their ancestors in one of the longest months — October.

Black History in England was first celebrated in 1987. The month of October was selected because it coincided with the Marcus Garvey celebrations and London Jubilee. Since that time, celebration has spread out from the London Boroughs to other English cities like Bristol, Leeds, Manchester Nottingham and Birmingham, as well as other parts of the United Kingdom.

Photo: Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745 – 1797), also known as Gustavus Vassa, was one of the most prominent people of African heritage involved in the British debate for the abolition of the slave trade. He wrote an autobiography that depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade in 1807.

For more information on the “other” Black History Month check out the following sites:

• BHM, The Official Guide to Black History
• Breaking the Chains, Commemorating 200 Years Since the Abolition of Slavery
• Liverpool International Slavery Museum

Amistad Research Center | New Orleans, LA

Founded on the campus of Tulane University in 1966, the Amistad Research Center in New Orleans houses one of this country’s largest collections of manuscripts pertaining to the African-American Diaspora, race relations, church history, education, and the Civil Rights movement. In addition to over 15 million primary documents, the center holds more than 250,000 photographs, 20,000 books, 2,000 periodicals, and hundreds of videos and audiotapes. Its literary manuscript holdings contain letters and original manuscripts from prominent Harlem Renaissance writers and poets, as well as more than 1,000 original works of African and African American art dating from the 18th century to the present, including works by several internationally renowned African American masters.  A portion of the center is also dedicated to documentation on Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics and European Immigrants, as well as Appalachian whites.

The Amistad Research Center is a designated historical site on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.

Amistad Research Center
Tulane University
Address: 6823 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70115
Phone: (504) 865-5535
Official Website
Map & Driving Directions

Louisiana African American Heritage Trail

Photo Credit: Map of Louisiana Office of Tourism

Stretching from New Orleans to Shreveport, the Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail incorporates over 26 historical sites and attrractions, including the following:

• New Orleans (Congo Square, New Orleans African American Museum, St. Augustine Church, Tremé, St. Louis Cemeteries No. 1 and No. 2, French Market, and the Amistad Research Center at Tulane Univ.)

• Mahalia Jackson’s grave, Providence Park Cemetery, Metairie;

• Arna Bontemps African American Museum (birthplace of writer of the Harlem Renaissance), Alexandria;

• Madam C.J. Walker’s birthplace, Delta;

• Melrose Plantation, center of Louisiana Créole culture;

• Laura Plantation, Vacherie;

• Evergreen Plantation, Wallace;

• River Road African American Museum, Donaldsonville;

• Grambling State University, Grambling;

• Tangipahoa African American Heritage Museum, Hammond;

• Port Hudson Battlefield, Jackson;

• Whitney Plantation Historic District, Wallace;

• African American Museum, St. Martinville;

• St. Augustine Parish (Isle Brevelle) Church, Natchez, Louisiana;

• Black Heritage Art Gallery, Central School Art and Humanities Center, Lake Charles;

• Creole Heritage Folk Life Center, Opelousas;

• Cane River Creole National Historical Park-Creole Center, Natchitoches;

• Southern University, Baton Rouge;

• Multicultural Center of the South, Shreveport;

• Southern University Museum of Art, Shreveport; and

• Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum, Monroe.

For more information, visit the online home of the Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail found on the state of Louisiana’s official tourism site.

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