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Learn and discover how African-Americans have held a prominent place in the history of Chattanooga dating back to the 16th century. Did you know that Chattanooga is the hometown of the first African-American appointed to lead counsel on a Supreme Court case? The home of the nation’s oldest student, who learned to read at age…

For generations, African Americans have enriched South Carolina’s history, and the black families of Chesterfield County are no different. During slavery, many African Americans in Chesterfield County were forced to provide domestic services and labor to build the towns in which they were never considered citizens. Many slaves mastered their crafts and used those skills…

Although African American pioneers arrived in Des Moines, Iowa, in the early 1860s, the population exploded in the 1880s due to the surrounding coal mines. In the 1860s, the Burns Methodist Episcopal Church was the first African American church built in Des Moines, and its only address was “East Side of the River.” From 1900…

Durham and Orange Counties have vibrant and active African American communities. Throughout the region’s unjust past, generations have shown extraordinary strength and resolve. Floyd McKissick became the first African American student at the University of North Carolina School of Law after Thurgood Marshall argued for his admittance in court. The struggle for civil rights in…

African Americans of Fauquier details the perseverance the African American population of this town had through centuries of slavery and segregation. Fauquier County, in Northern Virginia, was established in 1759. It was formed from Prince William County and was named for Virginia lieutenant governor Francis Fauquier. In 1790, there were 6,642 slaves in Fauquier County….

Giles County was founded on November 14, 1809, and is known as the land of milk and honey. The county is home to over 30 National Register properties, Civil War skirmish sites, a varied cultural heritage, and intersecting Trail of Tears routes (Benge’s and Bell’s). It is also the beginning place for many well-known African…

Texas is a Southern state, and in many ways, Houston is a typical Southern city. While Houston did not experience the types or degrees of racial violence found in other Southern cities during the Jim Crow era, black Houstonians nonetheless found themselves often relegated to the margins of society. For decades there were two distinct…

The African American community of Jackson comprised an eclectic array of architectural styles reflective of the economic and social stratification of its urban dwellers. Images of America: African Americans of Jackson illustrates through vintage photographs the lives of the city’s African American residents as seen through their struggles and triumphs.