Since 1976, February has been observed as Black History Month in the US. And there's a lot of Black History to explore all across the country.
While some sites are well-known, some have been hidden, ignored, or overlooked. Do you know about these places? What others do you recommend?
Clinton, Tennessee: It was a time of segregation. The United States Supreme Court had sanctioned it with a decision that declared separate but equal educational facilities sufficient. But in 1956 they overturned that decision with Brown v. Board of Education. Separate was inherently unequal. Schools in the south were told to integrate, and do so as speedily as possible. Experience that history at the Green McAdoo Cultural Center and Museum. Read more Green McAdoo
Tuskegee, Alabama Peanut margarine and some of the most courageous fighter pilots of World War II share common roots. So do author Ralph Ellison, pioneer research in the field of polio vaccines and the first African-American four-star general. All come from the only college or university designated a national historic site by the United States Congress: Tuskegee University. Read more about Tuskegee Institute and George Washington Carver Museum
Contraband Camps and the Civil War: It's a park now, with trees and a wide plaza of grass. It bears the disquieting name of Contraband Camp, but in 1862 it teemed with people, emancipated people. Contraband was the appellation for escaped slaves. Their story is one of the little known but fascinating aspects of the Civil War. Some of it takes place at Freedom's Fortress in Hampton, Virginia, but Corinth Mississippi offers the Contraband Camp, the Interpretative Center, and nearby Shiloh Battlefield.Read more about Black Civil War History
Comments