Dc’s History Of Slavery Tour
- Add to wishlist
- 17th Street NW, between Constitution Avenue NW and Independence Avenue SW, Washington D.C., United States
The theme/subject is a much needed topic of discussion for all Americans, young and old. This tour is unique because it is one of a kind in the Nation’s Capital. There are many so called “classical tours” given but none on the lines of my tour which offers the history of slavery in the Federal City.
Construction Of The Museum Building
The museum’s groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 22, 2012. President Barack Obama and museum director Bunch were among the speakers at the ceremony. Actress Phylicia Rashd was the Master of Ceremonies for the event, which also featured poetry and music performed by Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, and the Heritage Signature Chorale.
Clark Construction Group, Smoot Construction, and H.J. Russell & Company won the contract to build the museum. The architectural firm of McKissack & McKissack provided project management services on behalf of the Smithsonian, and acted as liaison between the Smithsonian and public utilities and D.C. government agencies. Guy Nordenson and Associates and Robert Silman Associates were the structural engineers for the project.
The NAAMHC became the deepest museum on the National Mall. Excavators dug 80 ft below grade to lay the foundations, although the building itself will be only 70 ft deep. The museum is located at a low point on the Mall, and groundwater puts 27.78 psi on the walls. To compensate, 85 US gal per minute of water were pumped out every day during construction of the foundation and below-grade walls, and a slurry of cement and sand injected into forms to stabilize the site. Lasers continually monitored the walls during construction for any signs of bulging or movement.
The 350,000 sq ft building has a total of 10 stories .
Home Front And Postwar
With an enormous demand for expansion of the defense industries, the new draft law in effect, and the cut off of immigration from Europe, demand was very high for underemployed farmers from the South. Hundreds of thousands of African-Americans took the trains to Northern industrial centers in a dramatic historical event known as the . Migrants going to Pittsburgh and surrounding mill towns in western Pennsylvania between 1890 and 1930 faced racial discrimination and limited economic opportunities. The Black population in Pittsburgh jumped from 6,000 in 1880 to 27,000 in 1910. Many took highly paid, skilled jobs in the steel mills. Pittsburgh’s Black population increased to 37,700 in 1920 while the Black element in Homestead, Rankin, Braddock, and others nearly doubled. They succeeded in building effective community responses that enabled the survival of new communities.Historian Joe Trotter explains the decision process:
After the war ended and the soldiers returned home, tensions were very high, with serious labor union strikes and inter-racial riots in major cities. The summer of 1919 was known as the with outbreaks of racial violence killing about 1,000 people across the nation, most of whom were Black.
Nevertheless, the newly established Black communities in the North nearly all endured. Joe Trotter explains how the Blacks built new institutions for their new communities in the Pittsburgh area:
Read Also: How Much Is Admission To The Field Museum In Chicago
Great Migration And The Harlem Renaissance
During the first half of the 20th century, the largest internal population shift in U.S. history took place. Starting about 1910, through the over five million African Americans made choices and “voted with their feet” by moving from the South to northern and western cities in hopes of escaping political discrimination and hatred, violence, finding better jobs, voting and enjoying greater equality and education for their children.
In the 1920s, the concentration of Black people in New York led to the cultural movement known as the , whose influence reached nationwide. Black intellectual and cultural circles were influenced by thinkers such as and , who celebrated Blackness, or arts and letters flourished. Writers , , , and and artists , William H. Johnson, , and gained prominence.
The , a destination for many on the trains up from Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana, joined Harlem as a sort of Black capital for the nation. It generated flourishing businesses, music, arts and foods. A new generation of powerful African-American political leaders and organizations also came to the fore, Typified by Congressman . Membership in the NAACP rapidly increased as it mounted an anti-lynching campaign in reaction to ongoing southern white violence against blacks. ‘s , the , and union organizer ‘s all were established during this period and found support among African Americans, who became urbanized.
Hall Of North American Forests
The Hall of North American Forests is a one-story hall on the museum’s first floor in between the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall and the Warburg Hall of New York State Environments. It contains ten dioramas depicting a range of forest types from across North America as well as several displays on forest conservation and tree health. The hall was constructed under the guidance of botanist Henry K. Svenson and opened in 1958. Each diorama specifically lists both the location and exact time of year depicted. Trees and plants featured in the dioramas are constructed of a combination of art supplies and actual bark and other specimens collected in the field. The entrance to the hall features a cross section from the , 1,400-year-old sequoia taken from the King’s River grove on the west flank of the Sierra Mountains in 1891.
Recommended Reading: Hotels Near Mutter Museum Philadelphia Pa
Connect To Inspiring Authentic Representations Of Life In The 18th And 19th Centuries In A Unique Place Where Black Communities Organized And Advanced The Cause Of Freedom
The African Meeting House, a registered National Historic Landmark, and Abiel Smith School on Beacon Hill were built in the early 1800s and are two of the museum’s most valuable assets. Located steps away from the Massachusetts State House.
Explore our Nantucket campus, which features two historic sites, the African Meeting House and the Florence Higginbotham House. These buildings were at the center of a thriving nineteenth-century African American community on the island.
Hall Of Reptiles And Amphibians
The Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians is near the southeast corner of the third floor. It serves as an introduction to herpetology, with many exhibits detailing reptile evolution, anatomy, diversity, reproduction, and behavior. Notable exhibits include a Komodo dragon group, an American alligator, Lonesome George, the last Pinta Island tortoise, and poison dart frogs.
In 1926, W. Douglas Burden, F.J. Defosse, and Emmett Reid Dunn collected specimens of the Komodo Dragon for the museum. Burden’s chapter “The Komodo Dragon”, in Look to the Wilderness, describes the expedition, the habitat, and the behavior of the dragon. The hall opened in 1927 and was rebuilt from 1969 to 1977 at a cost of $1.3 million.
You May Like: Tallahassee Jr Museum Halloween Howl
Where Is The Nmaahc
The NMAAHC is located on the National Mall at 1400 Constitution Avenue NW. It is between Constitution Avenue and Madison Drive, next to the American History Museum and the Washington Monument.
The NMAAHC is just across the street from the starting points of our National Mall and All in One Walking Tours!
There are many ways to get there and it is a short walk from many other destinations on the National Mall. We recommend this link for specific directions to the museum:
The nearest Metro Stations are Federal Triangle and Smithsonian It is also a short walk from Metro Center The Circulator Bus drops at the Washington Monument, just across the street from the museum. For more information on navigating the Metro, check out our blog post HERE.
Alternatively, many of the hop on hop off buses have a stop nearby to the NMAAHC.
Dred Scott V Sandford
was an enslaved man whose owner had taken him to live in the free state of Illinois. After his owner’s death, Dred Scott sued in court for his freedom on the basis of his having lived in a free state for a long period. The Black community received an enormous shock with the Supreme Court’s “Dred Scott” decision in March 1857. Black people were not American citizens and could never be citizens, the court said in a decision roundly denounced by the Republican Party as well as the abolitionists. Because enslaved people were “property, not people”, by this ruling they could not sue in court. The decision was finally reversed by the Civil Rights Act of 1865. In what is sometimes considered mere the Court went on to hold that Congress had no authority to prohibit slavery in federal territories because enslaved people are personal property and the to the Constitution protects property owners against deprivation of their property without due process of law. Although the Supreme Court has never explicitly overruled the Dred Scott case, the Court stated in the that at least one part of it had already been overruled by the in 1868, which begins by stating, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Read Also: Children’s Science Museum Mn
Museum Of African American History: Explore The Rich History Of The 19th
NPS Photo/Matt Teuten
Imagine listening to Frederick Douglass or speak while sitting in the pews of the African Meeting House. Or consider a student’s experience at the Abiel Smith School. These two historic buildings are home to the Museum of African American History’s Boston Campus. Visitors can immerse themselves in the rich history of Beacon Hill’s 19th century Black community by exploring these buildings and the stories held within.
Built in 1806, the African Meeting House served as a church, school, and gathering place for the political activism and cultural life of Bostons free Black community in the 19th century. Since placed in the care of the Museum, this space has continued to serve as a space for events and talks on a variety of topics that connect to the site’s history.
The Abiel Smith School opened in 1835 and acted as a focal point in the Black communitys struggle for equal school rights over the following decades. Today, it is home to the Museum of African American History’s exhibit galleries. The current exhibit “Selections from the Collection” highlights historical artifacts that help share the history of African Americans in Boston.
For current hours of operation and to learn more about the Museum of African American History and its programs, please visit the Museum of African American History website.
The Museum of African American History operates the Abiel Smith School and the African Meeting House and is a partner of the National Parks of Boston.
Early Civil Rights Movement
In response to these and other setbacks, in the summer of 1905, and 28 other prominent, African-American men met secretly at . There, they produced a manifesto calling for an end to racial discrimination, full civil liberties for African Americans and recognition of human brotherhood. The organization they established came to be called the . After the notorious race riot of 1908, a group of concerned Whites joined with the leadership of the Niagara Movement and formed the a year later, in 1909. Under the leadership of Du Bois, the NAACP mounted legal challenges to segregation and lobbied legislatures on behalf of Black Americans.
While the NAACP use the court system to promote equality, at the local level African Americans adopted a self-help strategy. They pooled their resources to create independent community and institutional lives for themselves. They established schools, churches, social welfare institutions, banks, and small businesses to serve the needs of their communities. The main organizer of national and local self-help organizations was Alabama educator .
Some reformers were concerned with the Black condition. In 1908 after the got him involved, published the book Following the Color Line: An Account of Negro Citizenship in the American Democracy, becoming the first prominent journalist to examine America’s racial divide it was extremely successful. Sociologist Rupert Vance says it is:
You May Like: Parking Garage Near Natural History Museum
National Museum Of African American History And Culture
| Exterior of the museum |
| Location |
|---|
| nmaahc.si.edu |
The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in September 2016 with a ceremony led by President Barack Obama.
Early efforts to establish a federally owned museum featuring African-American history and culture can be traced to 1915, although the modern push for such an organization did not begin until the 1970s. After years of little success, a much more serious legislative push began in 1988 that led to authorization of the museum in 2003. A site was selected in 2006, and a design submitted by Freelon Group/Adjaye Associates/Davis Brody Bond was chosen in 2009. Construction began in 2012 and the museum completed in 2016.
The NMAAHC is the world’s largest museum dedicated to African-American history and culture. It ranked as the fourth most-visited Smithsonian museum in its first full year of operation. The museum has more than 40,000 objects in its collection, although only about 3,500 items are on display. The 350,000-square-foot , 10 story building and its exhibits have won critical praise.
Haiti’s Effect On Slavery
The revolt of enslaved Hatians against their white slave owners, which began in 1791 and lasted until 1801, was a primary source of fuel for both enslaved people and abolitionists arguing for the freedom of Africans in the U.S. In the 1833 edition of it is stated that freed Black people in Haiti were better off than their Jamaican counterparts, and the positive effects of are alluded to throughout the paper. These anti-slavery sentiments were popular among both white abolitionists and African-American slaves. Enslaved people rallied around these ideas with rebellions against their masters as well as white bystanders during the and the . Leaders and plantation owners were also very concerned about the consequences Haiti’s revolution would have on early America. Thomas Jefferson, for one, was wary of the “instability of the West Indies”, referring to Haiti.
Don’t Miss: San Francisco Museum Of Ice Cream
Review: The Smithsonian African American Museum Is Here At Last And It Uplifts And Upsets
-
Send any friend a story
As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.
Give this articleGive this articleGive this article
WASHINGTON On a late summer day in 1963, 200,000 Americans made the Washington Monument the compass needle for a new direction in history, up and forward, when they gathered at its base, then marched a mile or so on to hear the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preach sing, really a sermon on racism and a dream of change.
On an early autumn day this Saturday, just yards from the monument, the compass itself will, symbolically speaking, become fully visible, when the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens to the public. To paraphrase the preacher: Its here at last, here at last. And its more than just impressive. Its a data-packed, engrossing, mood-swinging must-see.
That may not have been the intended effect. The initial plan was to cast the facade panels, perforated with decorated patterns, in bronze. When that proved too costly, painted aluminum was substituted, with a loss of reflective sheen. In midday sunlight, the building looks rusted and a little shaggy, like a giant magnet bristling with metal filings.
Richard Gilder Graduate School
The AMNH offers a Master of Arts in Teaching in Earth Science and a PhD in Comparative Biology.
On October 23, 2006, the museum launched the Richard Gilder Graduate School, which offers a PhD in Comparative Biology, becoming the first American museum in the United States to award doctoral degrees in its own name. Accredited in 2009, in 2011 the graduate school had 11 students enrolled, who work closely with curators and they have access to the collections. The first seven graduates to complete the program were awarded their degrees on September 30, 2013. The dean of the graduate school is AMNH paleontologist John J. Flynn, and the namesake and major benefactor is Richard Gilder.
The MAT Earth Science Residency program was launched in 2012 to address a critical shortage of qualified science teachers in New York State, particularly in high-needs schools with diverse populations. In 2015, the MAT program officially joined the Richard Gilder Graduate School, with the NYS Board of Regents authorizing the Gilder School to grant the MAT degree. The program has about 16 graduates complete the program each year.
Recommended Reading: El Paso Museum Of Art
National Museum Of African American History & Culture
Occupying the last available space on the National Mall, the Smithsonians National Museum of African American History & Culture is situated prominently between the National Museum of American History and 15th Street, next to the Washington Monument.
The NMAAHC features exhibition space for African American history and culture, as well as a centerpiece venue for ceremonies and performances. The facility looks unlike any other structure on the Mall. The bronze and glass-panel façade, known as the Corona, is a representation of traditional African architecture using modern materials and will visually define the museum. The Corona hangs from the top of the museum with no intermediate support. The museums five above-grade levels are supported by four concrete towers linked at the top by steel trusses. Below grade, the project includes three cast-in-place concrete levels: a mechanical level, a concourse level, and a mezzanine level.
This project continues the longstanding relationship between Clark and the Smithsonian Institution, which dates back to the early 20th century. Since 1983, Clark has built more than 11 projects for the Institution totaling more than 1.3 million square feet.
