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African American NHL Assessment Study
National Park Service
Organization of American Historians
National Museum of African American History and Culture
February 6, 2008CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY……………………………………………………………………………………………1
BACKGROUND………………………………………………………………………………………………..…… 3
PART A. ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING THEMES…………………………………………………………….. 5
PART B. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ADDITIONAL THEMES………..……………………………………. 7
PART C. FURTURE RESEARCH AND NOMINATION EFFORTS……..………………………………….. 10
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 11
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS…………...…………………………………………………………………………… 12
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: AFRICAN AMERICAN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS………….………….14
APPENDIX B: ANALYSIS OF AFRICAN AMERICAN NHLS………………………….…………….42
APPENDIX C: SCHOLAR COMPOSITE ASSESSMENT……………………………….………..… 45
APPENDIX D: NPS UNITS ASSOCIATED WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY……………. 46
APPENDIX E: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXISTING NHLs………..……………..…………..... 53
APPENDIX F: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POTENTIAL NHLs.…………..……………………... 57
APPENDIX G: ASSOCIATED THEME STUDIES………………..…………..………….………...…76AFRICAN AMERICAN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS ASSESSMENT STUDY
National Park Service – Cultural Resources
National Historic Landmarks Program
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
The African American National Historic Landmarks Assessment Study evaluated the National
Historic Landmarks Program’s comprehensiveness in commemorating nationally significant
African American history. The goal of the assessment study was to identify patterns in the
identification, evaluation, and nomination of properties associated with African American history
and to determine if all aspects of this history are represented. Working under a long-standing
cooperative agreement, the National Historic Landmarks Program (NHL Program) and the
Organization of American Historians (OAH) assembled a team of scholars to review the current
list of National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) and offer feedback. The reviewing scholars convened
on September 10, 2007, at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American
History and Culture in Washington, DC, to discuss their assessments and make
recommendations for future research and nomination efforts. The final report will assist the
National Park Service (NPS) in creating a network of scholars and organizations that may be
interested in the recommendations of the Scholars Meeting Group, and undertake the
necessary research and documentation to prepare nominations that lead to NHL designation of
new properties associated with African American history. The report will assist planners in
evaluating proposals by Congress and others for additions to the National Park System,
National Historic Trails, and National Heritage Areas as well as assist states, Federal agencies,
and the general public in identifying properties that should be nominated for NHL status.
Methodology
In fiscal year 2005, the NPS Park Planning Office provided $25,000 to the NHL Program to
evaluate the comprehensiveness of the program’s efforts in commemorating nationally
significant African American history. To facilitate this assessment, the NHL Program defined
African American history as the broad range of themes, events, ideas, and technologies that are
directly associated with a person or people of African ancestry; or that have a nationally
significant cultural, economic, legal, social, or political impact on people of African ancestry from
European settlement of North America to the present. Therefore, the list of NHLs identified for
the assessment study may not be directly associated with a person of African ancestry but all
represent national trends and events that had a nationally significant impact on or were uniquely
influenced by the African American community.
In Phase I of the Assessment Study, the NHL Program identified and compiled documentation
on currently listed NHLs and NPS units designated for their association with African American
history. Relevant sites were identified using National Landmarks, American Treasures (2000) by
S. Allen Chambers, Jr., the NHL Program’s “List of National Historic Landmarks by State” (May
2006), and the National Register Information System (NRIS).
During Phase II, the NHL Program invited NPS regional offices, State Historic Preservation
Offices (SHPOs), other government agencies, private organizations, and other interested
parties to comment on the Assessment Study and recommend properties associated with
African American history for potential NHL nomination. The query garnered responses from 32
SHPOs, 3 NPS regional offices, several National Park System units, private preservation
organizations, and other interested individuals.
For Phase III of the Assessment Study, OAH recruited distinguished scholars of African
American history to participate in the Scholars Meeting Group. Prior to the meeting held on
1September 10, 2007, participants reviewed the list of previously identified NHLs with three
objectives:
1. Evaluate the current comprehensiveness of research and nominations of properties
within ten major themes in African American history: Archeology; Colonial and Early
America; Culture, Arts, and Ideas; Economics and Commerce; Emancipation and
Reconstruction; History of the American West; Law, Society, and Government; Notable
Individuals; Sciences and Technology; and Slavery and Civil War.
2. Recommend additional themes in African American history to target for future research,
documentation, and nomination efforts; and
3. Identify potential properties and partners to facilitate future research and documentation
of African American history, leading to the preparation of NHL nominations.
Study Findings
The Scholars Meeting Group found the following:
1. Current NHLs provide fair coverage of nationally significant African American history and
reflect a limited range of events, ideas, themes, and significant individuals.
2. Five of the ten evaluated themes are minimally covered or require significant
improvement in documentation and NHL nomination efforts: Archeology, Colonial and
Early America, History of the American West, Science and Technology, and Economics
and Commerce.
3. The evaluated themes and existing NHLs do not sufficiently represent recent scholarship
in African American history.
Recommendations
The Scholars Meeting Group recommended the following:
1. Expansion of research and nomination efforts in five of the ten evaluated themes:
Archeology, Colonial and Early America, History of the American West, Science and
Technology, and Economics and Commerce.
2. Development of ten additional themes for future research and NHL nomination efforts:
Black Freedom Struggles; Grassroots and Vernacular History; Institutional History;
Intellectual History; Education and Literacy; Era of Jim Crow; Racial Violence and
Intimidation; Migration and Movement; Family Life and Relationships; and Black
Recreation, Leisure, and Entertainment.
3. Dissemination of the findings of the Assessment Study to preservation organizations and
other interested parties that may partner with the National Park Service to facilitate and
increase research, documentation, and nomination of properties associated with African
American history.
2AFRICAN AMERICAN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS ASSESSMENT STUDY
Background
National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) are cultural properties designated by the Secretary of the
Interior as being nationally significant. They are acknowledged as among the nation’s most
important historic places and the most outstanding representations of American history and
identity. The NHL Program focuses attention on these historic places by recognizing and
promoting preservation efforts by government agencies, private organizations, local
communities, and individuals. Working with these parties, the NHL Program facilitates
nomination of properties for designation by the Secretary of the Interior. Today, approximately
2,500 historic places bear this national distinction and represent many aspects of United States
history.
To address the need for the NHLs to be fully representative of the nation’s history, in 1991
Congress authorized the National Park Service (NPS), through Public Law 102-98, to conduct
an African American History Theme Study, but did not provide funding for this project. Many
NHLs are nominated through congressionally-mandated theme studies, which identify and
consider related properties for designation within a specific historic theme. Despite limited
resources, the NHL Program has recently undertaken several NHL theme studies associated
with African American history (see Appendix G). These include the four-part American Civil
Rights Theme Study that examines the desegregation of public accommodations, voting rights,
access to open housing, and access to equal employment opportunities. OAH collaborated with
the NHL Program in undertaking the American Civil Rights Theme Study, which has produced
twelve NHL designations to date.
In addition to properties designated in conjunction with theme studies, the NHL Program
facilitated designation of several individual properties associated with African American
history—with nominations prepared by SHPOs, NPS regional offices, private organizations, and
interested individuals. The home of attorney Roswell Field, located in St. Louis, Missouri, is the
most recent related property to be designated as an NHL. The Field House is associated with
Field’s preparation of the legal defense for freedom seeker Dred Scott. Field formulated the
legal argument that brought the case Scott v. Sanford before the U. S. Supreme Court but then
turned the defense over to an attorney with more experience in arguing before the Court. The
1857 decision, written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, ruled that no person of African ancestry
could be a U.S. citizen and declared unconstitutional the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which
prohibited slavery in the territory north of Missouri. The ruling, commonly known as the Dred
Scott Decision, became a critical impetus for the American Civil War.
In fiscal year 2005, the NPS Park Planning Office provided funding to undertake an assessment
of the comprehensiveness of the NHL program’s nomination efforts in the area of African
American history. The goal of the African American National Historic Landmarks Assessment
Study was to identify patterns in the identification, evaluation, and nomination of properties
associated with African American history and to determine if all aspects of this history are
presently represented.
Initial efforts focused on digitizing the official NHL documentation related to African American
history. Completed at the end of fiscal year 2006, the NHL Program, in partnership with the
Organization of American Historians, digitized the nominations and made them available to the
public through the NPS website: www.nps.gov/nhl.
3Recognizing the breadth of both the thematic and chronological scope of “African American
history,” the NHL Program formulated a definition to capture both the African American
experience in the United States and delineate the NHL Program’s criteria for a property’s
eligibility as a NHL. For the assessment study, African American history was defined as the
broad range of themes, events, ideas, and technologies that are directly associated with a
person or people of African ancestry; or that have a nationally significant cultural, economic,
legal, social, or political impact on people of African ancestry, from European settlement of
North America to the present. Therefore, some NHLs identified for the Assessment Study may
not be directly associated with a person of African ancestry but all represent national trends and
events that had a nationally significant impact on or were uniquely influenced by the African
American community. Using this definition as a starting point, 174 existing NHLs (see Appendix
A) and 47 National Park units (see Appendix D) were identified for their association with African
American history.
The NHL Program recognizes 30 categories of areas of significance (including "Other") that
identify the topic under which a building, site, structure, object, or district is nominated for NHL
designation. These areas of significance are topics in an overarching theme, by which a
nomination preparer explains and justifies a property’s historical importance to the nation as a
whole and by which a property’s significance is evaluated in comparison to other properties. In
analyzing the list of identified properties, the NHL Program found that existing NHLs were
designated using most of the recognized areas of significance but that some categories had no
associated NHLs or were significantly less represented compared with other categories.
An analysis of the extant NHLs provided in Appendix B, using the 29 areas of significance
categories (excluding the category “Other”) to evaluate current commemoration of African
American history, shows that:
• Zero NHLs are associated with African American history in the following categories: Art,
Conservation, and Maritime history;
• Ten or fewer NHLs are associated with African American history in these categories:
Agriculture (4), Archeology (2), Communications (4), Community Planning and
Development (5), Economics (5), Engineering (2), Entertainment/Recreation (5),
Health/Medicine (2), Invention (5), Landscape Architecture (2), Philosophy (1), Science
(4), and Transportation (4); and
• Eleven or more NHLs are associated with African American history in these categories:
Architecture (11), Commerce (18), Education (44), Ethnic Heritage-Black (173);
Exploration/ Settlement (23), Industry (19), Law (35), Literature (12), Military history
(12), Performing Arts (16), Politics/Government (56), Religion (14), and Social history
(140). *
*
An NHL property may be significant in more than one area of significance, which explains why the total is more
than the 174 existing NHLs associated with African American history.
4Part A. Assessment of Existing Themes
In 1999, the National Park Service’s Revised Thematic Framework highlighted the agency’s
responsibility to ensure that research and NHL nomination efforts “reflect current scholarship
and represent the full diversity of America’s past” (National Register Bulletin, “Appendix A,” How
To Prepare National Historic Landmark Nominations. 1999: U.S. Department of the Interior, p.
79). The African American Assessment Study evaluates the fulfillment of this mission in the field
of African American history. Most of the NHL Program’s historical themes were established in
the 1950s and 60s, reflecting the dominant scholarship of that period. Given the development of
recent scholarship, the Scholars Meeting Group’s first major objective was to evaluate the
existing historical themes and recommend which merited better coverage in the NHL Program.
To facilitate assessment by the participating scholars, the NHL Program’s 30 areas of
significance categories were condensed into ten major themes through which the existing 175
African American NHLs were evaluated. The selected themes were: Economics and
Commerce; Science and Technology; Culture, Art, and Ideas; Law, Society, and Government;
Archeology; Notable Individuals; Colonial and Early America; Slavery and Civil War;
Emancipation and Reconstruction; and History of the American West. By no means exhaustive,
the ten were chosen with the recognition that some themes would overlap, that some NHLs
could be representative of multiple themes, and that some NHLs would not neatly fit any of the
chosen themes. Prior to the meeting on September 10, 2007, the scholars were given the list of
existing NHLs, a brief analysis of the NHLs by theme, and the objectives of the Assessment
Study. The scholars were asked to evaluate the existing NHLs within the ten themes—providing
an explanation for their ratings—and recommend additional themes in African American history
for future research and nomination efforts.
The scholars used a sliding scale rating system, from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), which assessed
the sufficiency of NHL documentation of events, ideas, themes, or significant individuals critical
to commemorating the history and significance of the 10 evaluated themes. Scholars were
specifically asked to provide an explanation of ratings below 4 (good). To view the complete
rating system, see “Scholar Assessment Composite” in Appendix C.
Findings
The Scholars Meeting Group generally concluded that the current list of NHLs provided fair
coverage of nationally-significant African American history and reflect a limited range of events,
ideas, themes, and significant individuals. The scholars noted that the pattern of NHL Program
nomination efforts focused extensively on legalistic and policy driven documentation of historic
themes. The scholars determined that this focus did not capture many aspects of African
American history and recommended that the NHL Program broaden its thematic scope. The
Scholars Meeting Group also identified five themes where documentation and nomination
efforts required significant improvement: Archeology, Colonial and Early America, History of the
American West, Science and Technology, and Economics and Commerce. The Scholars
Meeting Group determined that the numbers of existing NHLs associated with five themes were
very small, or that extant NHLs represented history limited to a specific topic. While coverage
was good or even excellent on a single topic (such as the Underground Railroad and
desegregation of public education), the current NHLs were deficient in representing the broader
histories of five themes. A synopsis of the five themes evaluated as poorly covered or needing
improvement follows.
Archeology: Citing recently discovered archeological sites, such as New Philadelphia
Townsite in Barry, Illinois and the Slave Tunnel at the George Washington House in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Scholars Meeting Group assessed the scarcity of
archeological properties designated for African American history as poor, defined as
having little or no coverage of major events, ideas, themes or significant persons in the
category. The scholars pointed out that since African American resources were historical
5targets of racial violence, intimidation, and destruction (see “Additional Themes”),
archeological remains are quite possibly the only resources for research and
documentation of large portions of nationally significant African American history.
Colonial and Early America: The Scholars Meeting Group noted the need for
documentation of the history of African American life and contributions during Colonial
and Early America. The Meeting Group particularly noted the lack of properties
associated with the American maritime history of the Middle Passage and the Internal
Slave Trade, African Americans’ roles in colonial settlement, and African American
involvement in the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.
History of the American West: The Scholars Meeting Group observed the absence of
NHLs documenting African American history in the American West, particularly in the
territorial and state history of California. Citing the expansion of slavery and the
admittance of territories into the United States as a pivotal issue in American history, the
absence of NHLs commemorating this history was particularly problematic. The NHL
Program does not include the history of African American migration and settlement of
the region, particularly during the California Gold Rush of the late 1840 and 50s, the
creation of post-Reconstruction all-black towns, and the development of urban western
communities in the early to mid-20th century.
Science and Technology: Although the Scholars Meeting Group noted that existing
NHLs did commemorate African American history in the area of science and technology,
demonstrated by the Charles R. Drew House NHL, the group also noted that the NHL
Program does not fully document the range of African American inventors, architects,
engineers, academicians, and institutions of scientific research. The Scholars Meeting
Group was particularly critical of the absence of NHLs associated with the black medical
profession, the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, and the schools of science and
engineering at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Economics and Commerce: The Scholars Meeting Group determined that the existing
NHLs provided only a small sampling of black businesses and commercial activity in the
United States and noted that very few NHLs commemorated the history of African
American craftsmanship or labor. The Scholars Meeting Group criticized the absence of
NHLs that represent the larger history of collective black enterprise, such as mutual aid
and benevolent societies, and the existence of black business districts—including their
destruction due to white racial violence, as exemplified by the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921.
6Part B. Recommendations for Additional Themes
The second major objective in undertaking the Assessment Study was to ensure that future
research and nomination efforts reflect current scholarship in the field of African American
history. Reviewing scholars were asked to identify emerging scholarship in the field of African
American history that deserves research and documentation within the NHL Program and to
identify non-designated properties that best represent this new scholarship. The Scholars
Meeting Group recommended ten additional thematic areas for future research and
documentation: Black Freedom Struggles; Grassroots and Vernacular History; Institutional
History; Intellectual History; Education and Literacy; Era of Jim Crow; Racial Violence and
Intimidation; Migration and Movement; Family Life and Relationships; and Black Recreation,
Leisure, and Entertainment. The Scholars Meeting Group viewed these recommendations as a
beginning point to address gaps in NHL research and documentation of African American
history, and not as a definitive list.
Black Freedom Struggles or Struggles for Full Freedom, Justice, and Equality: At every
moment in American history, various groups have contested the meaning of citizenship
and freedom; never more so than with the struggles of African Americans for inclusion in
or separation from American society. The Scholars Meeting Group determined that the
NHL Program has largely succeeded in nominating a wide range of resources important
for documenting civil rights history, or African American struggles for inclusion in
American society. However, past nomination efforts have ignored the history of African
American struggles for self-determination that do not have integration as its goal. The
absence of NHLs documenting this history, therefore, does not represent the full
complexity and significance of African American history, particularly since reactions to
more radical African American definitions of freedom frequently spurred transformations
in American society. Expanding research and nomination efforts to represent a larger
Black Freedom Struggles theme would continue nomination efforts within the theme of
civil rights but would also illustrate the national significance and impact of black
nationalism and other radical movements—both domestic and international—on
American society.
Grassroots and Vernacular History: The Scholars Meeting Group noted that existing
NHLs and National Park System units provide broad representation of notable African
American leaders and major events in African American history, such as the Mary
McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site and the Tuskegee Airman
National Historic Site. However, the Scholars Meeting Group also pointed out that the
most striking feature of African Americans’ profound impact on American society has
been through the ordinary experiences of their daily lives. Although the importance of
African American leaders and mass movements can never be understated, it has often
been the everyday African American knowledge that has soaked into the fabric of
American life, often in previously undocumented ways. The Scholars Meeting Group
determined that NHL Program nomination efforts should capture the national
significance of “ordinary” lived experiences. For example, emerging scholarship on the
importance and impact of African American foodways illustrates the need for increased
nomination efforts in the category of social history. Scholarly studies of African American
recipes and cooking techniques, commonly called “soul food,” have recently gained
prominence. NPS has begun to commemorate this history, particularly in the Historic
American Buildings Survey and Historical American Engineering Record Program’s
focus on documenting vernacular architecture, such as exemplary examples of shotgun
houses, as well as in the Park Ethnography Division’s recently launched “National Parks
Associated with African Americans: An Ethnographic Perspective” Program.
Institutional History: In tandem with the daily experiences of African American life,
institutions form a critical locus from and around which African Americans organized as a
7community to effectively transform American society. Black religious institutions (African
Methodist Episcopal Church, United House of Prayer, Nation Of Islam), Black fraternal
organizations (Prince Hall Masons, Easter Star, Greek fraternities and sororities),
political and social clubs (National Association of Colored Women, National Association
for the Advancement of Colored People, National Urban League), Black
business/professional/economic organizations (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters,
benevolent societies), and educational institutions (Historically Black Colleges and
Universities) form the nucleus of organized activities to build African American
communities and challenge institutional racism in the United States. The Scholars
Meeting Group recommended that future NHL nomination efforts focus on documenting
this legacy.
Intellectual History: In addition to building institutions, African American also invented
and developed theories, ideas, concepts, and products that further transformed
American society. The Scholars Meeting Group determined that future NHL efforts
should recognize and preserve the creation of ideas and products developed within
African American intellectual traditions, by researching and documenting sites
associated with African American architects, authors, artists, academicians, community
scholars, scientific researchers, and inventors. For example, the W. E. B. DuBois
Boyhood Homesite is an NHL designated for its association with the famed civil rights
activist and first African American Ph.D. recipient from Harvard university. DuBois
researched and wrote The Philadelphia Negro, which is widely regarded as one of the
foundational texts for the field of American sociology.
Education and Literacy: Connected to the theme of Intellectual History is the unique
struggle of African Americans to obtain education and literacy in the United States.
Acknowledging past NHL nomination efforts around the theme of education, the
Scholars Meeting Group determined that more focused research was necessary to
document the legal and extra-legal barriers used to deny education to African Americans
and the unique solutions that African Americans, their supporters, and their opponents
used to challenge or maintain educational inequality. The Scholars Meeting Group
pointed out that the struggle for African American education and literacy was the result
as well as the catalyst for changes in national education policy, both governmental and
privately-sponsored. The Scholars Meeting Group cited such examples as racially-
segregated public schools; Freedman Bureau schools; Historically Black Colleges and
Universities; Rosenwald Schools; Church-sponsored schools; and current debates
surrounding multi-cultural education, integration and community-controlled schools.
Era of Jim Crow: The Scholars Meeting Group determined that there were significant
chronological gaps in the documentation of current NHLs. The small number of NHLs
whose periods of significance span the 1880s to the 1930s and the post-1960s history
merited attention. Because of the general 50-Year Rule in NHL nomination criteria, the
Scholars Meeting Group determined to prioritize the 1880s-1930s, designating the
period as the “Era of Jim Crow” to encompass both its thematic and chronological
aspects. The Era of Jim Crow includes institution and community-building post-
Reconstruction, the extreme racial violence and intimidation of African Americans, the
First Great Migration, regionalism, the development of scientific racism, and government
policy decisions leading to the Modern Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s.
Racial Intimidation and Violence: The Scholars Meeting Group also recommended a
Racial Intimidation and Violence theme associated with African American history, as an
important historical demonstration of and catalyst for community and government action
to control issues of race, power, and citizenship. The Racial Intimidation and Violence
theme spans the establishment, maintenance, and demise of the American slave
system; lynching and white racial riots of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; as well as
violence during the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights Movement such as the 1955 murder of
8Emmett Till and the murder of African American civil rights leader Medgar Evers in 1963
in Mississippi. The theme also encompasses the history of resistance to such violence
through anti-lynching campaigns, establishment of institutions such as the NAACP,
theories such as non-violence and self-defense, and events such as the integration of
Little Rock Central High School (an NHL and National Park System unit) in Arkansas.
Migration and Movement: African American history is also the story of movement, both
forced and voluntary. The Scholars Meeting Group recommended a Migration and
Movement theme as a target for future research and nomination efforts. More broad than
the settlement/exploration area of significance category currently used by the NHL
Program, African American movement extends beyond the simple “peopling” of the
United States, as the category has primarily been documented in NHL nominations. The
theme encompasses the reality that, in African American history, movement becomes a
method for either claiming or being denied freedom in American society. The Scholars
Meeting Group quickly noted that the Migration and Movement theme also closely aligns
with the Racial Intimidation and Violence theme because voluntary movement by African
Americans was often an attempt to escape intimidation and violence—leading to the
establishment of maroon communities during enslavement; all-Black townships; African
repatriation movements; and expatriation to other countries such as Mexico, Canada,
and France. The Migration and Movement theme would provide for increased NHL
representation of the International and Internal Slave Trade, immigration, national
transformations in transportation as well as government policy-making, such as urban
renewal projects and military assignments. The theme also captures the history of
movements based on economic factors (history of labor, agriculture, American industry),
and the demographic and institutional results (urbanization, suburbanization, unionism).
African American Family Life and Relationships: The African American family as a unit of
historical change, protest, and support is closely aligned with the Grassroots and
Vernacular History theme, and includes the documentation of the historical impact of
multi-generational black families on the national landscape. The contributions of notable
African American families, significant for successive generations of importance instead
of a single person, would recognize and preserve the collective impact. Examples
include the military contributions of the Benjamin O. Davis family, the educational and
civil rights impact of the Forten-Grimke family, and the economic and cultural impact of
the Madame C. J. Walker family. Emerging scholarship on multi-generational African
American families also documents the unique systems and laws regarding inheritance,
heirs’ property, and other issues that resulted from their existence. In addition to property
ownership issues, legislation associated with Black families occupies a unique and
significant place in American social and labor history—particularly within the American
slave system, through miscegenation laws, within early 20th century eugenics debates,
and other governmental policy development such as in social assistance programs.
Black Recreation, Leisure, and Entertainment: African American culture in the United
States has frequently provided the foundations of American cultural identity. In
recognizing this influence, the Scholars Meeting Group recommended that future
research and documentation commemorate the development of African American
culture and its impact on the transformation of American culture. Resources in this
category could include back-owned media outlets, performance venues, sporting
arenas/facilities, tourist and resort communities, record companies and recording
studios, as well as notable artists and athletes that entertained American audiences.
9Part C. Future Research and Nomination Efforts
The larger purpose of undertaking the Assessment Study is to ensure that existing and future
NHLs are broadly representative of African Americans’ contributions to the nation’s history and
to find strategies to increase future research and documentation efforts leading to NHL
nominations. The Assessment Study findings noted the need to develop these strategies. To
that end, the Scholars Meeting Group developed a list of organizations and other interested
parties that may partner with the NPS to promote the findings of the Assessment Study and
undertake its recommendations. The Scholars Meeting Group recommended that the National
Park Service widely disseminate the Assessment Study findings and encourage private
organizations and individuals to research and nominate properties associated with African
American history.
Recommendations for Future Research and Potential NHL Nomination
To further address deficiently covered and newly emerged themes in nationally significant
African American history, the NHL Program queried NPS Regional Offices, State Historic
Preservation Officers, and other government agencies to obtain recommendations of properties
associated with African American history for potential NHL nomination. The query garnered
responses from 32 SHPOs, 3 NPS Regional Offices, several National Park System units,
private preservation organizations, and interested individuals.
Queried parties recommended 89 current National Register properties and 112 properties that
are not listed in the National Register for further research. In addition, SHPOs recommended
revision to the official documentation of 47 NHLs to include information on the property’s
previously undocumented association with nationally significant African American history (see
Appendix E). The recommended properties represent a wide range of themes and property
types. Each recommendation must be further researched, documented, and evaluated in
accordance with NHL Program criteria. A sample of these property recommendations are
provided in Appendix F.
10Conclusion
The African American National Historic Landmarks Assessment Study illustrates the ongoing
challenges of ensuring that the National Park Service’s programs represent the full diversity of
United States heritage through the identification, documentation, and nomination of National
Historic Landmarks. As new scholarship emerges, the NHL Program must respond by ensuring
that future research and nomination efforts reflect and represent current thinking about the
American past. The NHL Program must create a network of scholars and organizations that will
become invested in the findings and recommendations of the Scholars Meeting Group and will
undertake the needed research and documentation leading to National Historic Landmark
nominations. The Scholars Meeting Group recommendations offer a strategy to best market the
documentation opportunities so that limited resources can be used to greatest advantage.
11ASSESSMENT STUDY PARTICIPANTS
PROJECT MANAGERS
Susan Ferentinos, Ph.D. Turkiya L. Lowe, Ph.C.
Public History Manager Contractor/Project Manager
Organization of American Historians National Park Service
112 N. Bryan Ave 1201 Eye Street, NW
PO Box 5457 8th Floor
Bloomington IN 47407-5457 Washington, DC 20005
812-855-8726 202-354-2266
Sue@oah.org Turkiya_lowe@contractor.nps.gov
SCHOLARS MEETING GROUP
Jeffrey Harris, Ph.C. Cheryl LaRoche, Ph.D.
Director for Diversity Visiting Assistant Professor
National Trust for Historic Preservation Department of American Studies
1785 Massachusetts Avenue, NW 1130 Holzapfel Hall
Washington, DC 20036 University of Maryland
202-588-6027 College Park, MD 20742
free_harris@nthp.org 301-946-4471
cjlaroche@yahoo.com
Waldo Martin, Ph.D.
Professor of History Michéle Gates Moresi, Ph.D.
Department of History Curator of Collections
University of California, Berkeley National Museum of African American
3118 Dwinelle Hall History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution
Mail Code: 2550 600 Maryland Ave, SW Suite 7001
Berkeley, CA 94720 MRC 509 P.O. Box 37012
510-642-2559 Washington, DC 20013
wmartin@berkeley.edu 202-633-4751
moresim@si.edu
Larry Rivers, Ph.D.
President Harvard Sitkoff, Ph.D.
Fort Valley State University Professor of History
1005 State University Drive University of New Hampshire
Fort Valley, GA 31030 Horton Hall 403
478-825-6315 Durham, NH 03824
Riversl@fvsu.edu 603-862-3024
his@christa.unh.edu
Patricia Sullivan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History and African
American Studies
University of South Carolina
228 Gambrell Hall
Columbia, SC 29208
803-777-2766
psulliv@gwm.sc.edu
12NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Brian Joyner, B.A. Antoinette Lee, Ph.D.
Writer/Editor Assistant Associate Director
Cultural Resources Diversity Program Historical Documentation Programs
National Park Service National Park Service
1201 Eye Street, NW 1201 Eye Street, NW
8th Floor 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20005 Washington, DC 20005
202-354-2276 202-354-2272
Brian_joyner@nps.gov Toni_lee@nps.gov
J. Paul Loether, M.A. Jan Matthews, Ph.D.
Chief Associate Director
National Register of Historic Places and Cultural Resources
National Historic Landmarks Program National Park Service
National Park Service 1849 C Street, NW
1201 Eye Street, NW Room 3128
8th Floor Washington, DC 20240
Washington, DC 20005 202-206-7625
202-354-2272 Jan_matthews@nps.gov
Paul_loether@nps.gov
Dan Vivian, Ph.C.
Susan Salvatore, M.A. Historian
Contractor/Project Manager National Register of Historic Places
National Historic Landmarks Program National Park Service
National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW
1201 Eye Street, NW 8th Floor
8th Floor Washington, DC 20005
Washington, DC 20005 202-354-2256
202-354-2256 Dan_vivian@nps.gov
Susan_salvatore@contractor.nps.gov
13APPENDIX A
AFRICAN AMERICAN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS
Note on Methodology: Relevant National Historic Landmarks were identified for their association with nationally significant events, ideas, movements, themes, and
individuals in general African American history. Therefore, some NHLs identified in conjunction with the Assessment Study are not associated with an African American
person but have significance to the overall history of African Americans in the United States from the period of European colonialism to the modern Civil Rights Movement
of the 1960s (Ex. Robert Barnwell Rhett House in Charleston, South Carolina). In addition, the listed properties may not identify these specific areas of significance in their
NHL documentation but manifest these areas of significance in relation to nationally significant African American history. For example, the current nomination may not
specify "Ethnic Heritage-Black" as an area of significance; however, the association with nationally significant African American history exists (ex. Sloss Blast Furnace). As
a result, property nominations may require revision to include the additional area of significance. NHLs that require such revision are marked here with an asterisk (*) and
others are listed in Appendix F. Alternate names of the NHL properties follow in parentheses.
AREA OF THEME
STATE NAME LOCATION HISTORIC CONTEXT DESIGNATED NOMINATION
SIGNIFICANCE STUDY
Bethel Baptist 3200 28th Avenue Law-Civil Rights Act of Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee http://pdfhost.fo http://nps.gov/
Church, North, Birmingham, 1964; Politics/ (SNCC) decided to continue the Freedom Rides of cus.nps.gov/doc nhl/themes/Pu
Parsonage, and Jefferson County, Government; Significant May 1961 rather than buckle under white s/NHLS/Text/05 b%20Accom.p
Guard House Alabama Person-Reverend Fred segregationist violence. From Bethel Baptist Church, 000455.pdf df
Shuttlesworth; Social Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth coordinated the
History-Civil Rights renewed ride with SNCC and Attorney General
Movement (1961 Robert Kennedy. The Alabama Christian Movement
Alabama Apr. 5, 2005
Freedom Rides, Public for Human Rights (ACMHR), headquartered in
Accommodations); Bethel Baptist Church from 1956 to 1961, confronted
Transportation multiple aspects of racial discrimination that served
as a model for the 1963 Birmingham campaign and
led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The church and
14
parsonage were places of refuge for wounded and
stranded riders rescued by ACMHR members.
Brown Chapel 410 Martin Luther Law-Voting Rights Act of Led by community leaders in cooperation with the http://pdfhost.fo http://nps.gov/
African Methodist King, Jr. Street, 1965; Politics/ Southern Christian Leadership Conference and cus.nps.gov/doc nhl/themes/Pu
Episcopal Church Selma, Dallas County, Government; Significant other national civil rights organizations, this church s/NHLS/Text/82 b%20Accom.p
Alabama Person-Martin Luther was the headquarters of the Selma Voting Rights 002009.pdf df
King, Jr.; Social History- Movement that led to the passage of the Voting Dec. 9, 1997
Civil Rights Movement Rights Act of 1965.
(Voting Rights), Selma-to-
Montgomery March
Dexter Avenue 454 Dexter Avenue, Commerce; Significant This church is associated with its pastor and civil http://pdfhost.fo http://nps.gov/
Baptist Church Montgomery, Person-Martin Luther rights activist, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the cus.nps.gov/doc nhl/themes/Pu
Montgomery County, King, Jr.; Social History- Montgomery Bus Boycott (MBB) — described as the s/NHLS/Text/74 b%20Accom.p
Alabama Civil Rights Movement first mass protest against racial discrimination. The 000431.pdf df
May 30, 1974
(Montgomery Bus Boycott MBB heralded a new era of direct action of the
and Public modern civil rights movement. King was chosen
Accommodations); president of the newly formed Montgomery
Transportation Improvement Association to lead the bus boycott.
Foster Auditorium University of Alabama, Education; Law-Brown v. Foster Auditorium is the site of the June 11, 1963 http://pdfhost.fo
Tuscaloosa, Board of Education “stand in the schoolhouse door” by Governor cus.nps.gov/doc
Tuscaloosa County, (1954); Politics and George Wallace in defiance of a proclamation by s/NHLS/Text/05
Alabama Government-Civil Rights President John F. Kennedy to obey a court order to 000457.pdf
Act of 1964; Social admit two African-American students to the
History-Civil Rights university. The auditorium is a symbol of southern Apr. 5, 2005
Movement massive resistance to school desegregation
(Desegregation) following the 1954 Brown decision and the call by
the Kennedy administration for a stronger federal
commitment to civil rights that became the
foundation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.AREA OF THEME
STATE NAME LOCATION HISTORIC CONTEXT DESIGNATED NOMINATION
SIGNIFICANCE STUDY
J. L. M. (Jabez Hwy 21, 3 miles east Education; Social History- Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry, as an agent for the http://pdfhost.fo
Lamar Monroe) from the center of Civil Rights, George Peabody Education Fund and the John F. cus.nps.gov/doc
Curry Home Talladega, Talladega Reconstruction Slater Fund, was influential in establishing public Dec. 21, 1965 s/NHLS/Text/66
County, Alabama education for emancipated African Americans 000154.pdf
throughout the south after the Civil War.
Sixteenth Street 1530 6th Avenue Law; Politics/ This church served as the organizational and http://pdfhost.fo http://nps.gov/
Baptist Church North at 16th Street, Government-Civil Rights staging background of the Easter Sunday children’s cus.nps.gov/doc nhl/themes/Pu
Birmingham, Jefferson Act of 1964; Social march to integrate public accommodations that s/NHLS/Text/80 b%20Accom.p
County, Alabama History-Civil Rights proved to be one of the most dramatic Feb. 2, 2006, 000696.pdf df
Movement (Public confrontations with segregation in the nonviolent National
Accommodations); movement. The church was bombed by white Register listed
supremacists on September 15, 1963, killing four 1980
little girls. Mass coverage of the event garnered
national empathy for the civil rights movement and
led to passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Sloss Blast 1st Avenue at 32nd Industry; Politics/ Completed in 1882, this site was designated as a http://pdfhost.fo http://www.np
Furnaces * Street, Birmingham, Government National Historic Landmark in 1981 in industrial cus.nps.gov/doc s.gov/nhl/them
APPENDIX A--AFRICAN AMERICAN NHLs
Jefferson County, heritage for its association with diversifying the s/NHLS/Text/72 es/Labor%20T
Alabama. South’s post-Civil War economy. Further study could 000162.pdf S.pdf
be conducted for its association with advances May 29, 1981
made in African American labor in the 1930s by the
Congress of Industrial Organizations in its efforts to
gain democracy for workers of all races.
Swayne Hall, Talladega College Education; Industry Originally constructed by enslaved African American http://pdfhost.fo
Talladega College Campus, 627 West labor in 1857 and initially used as a white Baptist cus.nps.gov/doc
Battle Street, school, the hall was purchased by the American s/NHLS/Text/74
Talladega County, Missionary Association in 1867 to form Talladega 002223.pdf
Dec. 2, 1974
15
Alabama College for freed African Americans. Talladega
established a liberal arts program in 1890, unlike
other contemporary African American educational
institutions which focused on vocational training.
Tuskegee Institute Vicinity of Tuskegee, Agriculture; Education; Tuskegee Institute was founded in 1881 by Booker http://pdfhost.fo
Macon County, Invention; Science; T. Washington, a leading late 19th century civil cus.nps.gov/doc
Alabama Significant Persons- rights advocate and educator. Scientist and inventor s/NHLS/Text/66
Booker T. Washington George Washington Carver, as head of the Jun. 23, 1965 000151.pdf
and George Washington Agricultural Department, founded over 500 uses for
Carver; Social History- the peanut while working at the college.
Civil Rights
Fort Huachuca 3.6 miles West of Military History; The fort was the headquarters for the U.S. Army’s http://pdfhost.fo
th th
Sierra Vista, Settlement/Exploration four all-black regiments: the 9 and 10 Calvary and cus.nps.gov/doc
th th
Cochise County, the 24 and 25 Infantry. The fort was founded in s/NHLS/Text/74
Arizona Arizona 1877 between Tombstone and the U.S.-Mexican May, 11, 1976 000443.pdf
border and played a prominent role in the
subjugation of Geronimo’s Chiracahua Apache.
Daisy Bates House 1207 West 28th Street, Education; Law-Brown v. Bates shepherded the Little Rock Nine to http://www.nps. http://pdfhost.f
Little Rock, Pulaski Board of Education and desegregate Central High School after the Brown v. gov/history/histo ocus.nps.gov/
County, Arkansas Brown II; Politics/ Board of Education and Brown II decisions ended de ry/school.pdf docs/NHLS/Te
Government; Significant juré segregation in public education. The house xt/01000072.p
Person-Daisy Bates became the de facto command post for the Central df
High School desegregation crisis and served as a
Arkansas Jan. 3, 2001
haven for the nine African American students who
desegregated the school and a place to plan the
best way to achieve their goals. For the first time, a
U.S. President used federal powers to uphold and
implement a federal court ruling regarding school
desegregation.AREA OF THEME
STATE NAME LOCATION HISTORIC CONTEXT DESIGNATED NOMINATION
SIGNIFICANCE STUDY
Centennial Baptist York and Columbia Religion; Significant From the Centennial Baptist Church's 1905 http://pdfhost.fo
Church Streets, Helena, Person-Reverend Dr. construction until his death in 1922, Reverend Dr. cus.nps.gov/doc
Phillips County, Elias Camp Morris; Social Elias Camp Morris was president (1895-1922) of the s/NHLS/Text/03
Arkansas History-Civil Rights National Baptist Convention (NBC), the largest 001044.pdf
African American organization in the United States
at the end of the 19th century. Through the NBC,
Morris brought attention to the right of African
Americans to establish independent religious Jul. 31, 2003
associations. The church functioned as the
headquarters of the National Baptist Convention
while Morris was pastor. Morris also provided a
voice for African American scholars through the
Convention's National Baptist Publishing Board,
which was devoted to the production of religious
APPENDIX A--AFRICAN AMERICAN NHLs
materials for African American congregations.
Little Rock Central 14th and Park Streets, Law-Brown v. Board of The school is the site of the first national test site for http://pdfhost.fo http://www.np
High School Little Rock, Pulaski Education, Brown II, and desegregation after the Brown v. Board of Education cus.nps.gov/doc s.gov/history/h
County, Arkansas Executive Enforcement; (1954) and Brown II (1955) decisions. The crisis at s/NHLS/Text/77 istory/school.p
NHL- May 20,
Politics/ Government; Little Rock is the first instance since Reconstruction 000268.pdf df
1982;
Significant Persons-Little of federal intervention to enforce civil rights.
National Historic
Rock Nine and Daisy
Site, Nov.
Bates; Social History-Civil
6,1998.
Rights Movement
(Desegregation) and
16
Massive Resistance
Leland Stanford 800 N Street, Exploration/Settlement- Although its association with African American http://pdfhost.fo
House* Sacramento, California; Significant history is not described in current NHL cus.nps.gov/doc
(Stanford-Lathrop Sacramento County, Person-Leland Stanford; documentation, Stanford played a pivotal role in s/NHLS/Text/71
California May 28, 1987
House) California Social History-Civil Rights early California civil rights history as a political and 000178.pdf
financial supporter of African American civil rights
and abolition in the state.
Prudence Crandall Southwest corner of Education; Significant Crandall was an educator and reformer who opened http://pdfhost.fo
House State Routes 14 and Person- Prudence a school exclusively for African American women cus.nps.gov/doc
Connecticut 169, Canterbury, Crandall; Social History- despite community protest and violence in1832. Jul. 17, 1991 s/NHLS/Text/70
Windham County, Civil Rights She closed the school in 1834 after a white mob 000696.pdf
Connecticut attacked the house.
First Church of 75 Main Street, Law-Amistad case; Mendé Africans from the slave ship, La Amistad, http://pdfhost.fo
Christ, Farmington Farmington, Hartford Politics/ Government; worshiped here after being declared free by the cus.nps.gov/doc
County, Connecticut Social History-Atlantic United States Supreme Court on March 9, 1841. s/NHLS/Text/75
May 15, 1975
Slave Trade, Abolitionism The Africans remained in Farmington for three 002056.pdf
months before setting sail for Sierra Leone in
November 1841.
Austin F. Williams 127 Main Street, Significant Person-Austin A leading abolitionist, Williams established an http://www.nps.
Carriagehouse and Farmington, Hartford F. Williams; Social Underground Railroad station here and headed the gov/history/nr/tr
House County, Connecticut History- Slavery, defense team for the 43 Mendé Africans from La avel/undergroun
Abolitionism, Amistad. He provided housing for the Africans after d/thhome.htm
Aug. 5, 1998
Underground Railroad, their release from prison by the United States
and Reconstruction Supreme Court. Williams was appointed director of
the Freedman's Bureau of New England after the
Civil War.AREA OF THEME
STATE NAME LOCATION HISTORIC CONTEXT DESIGNATED NOMINATION
SIGNIFICANCE STUDY
Howard High 401 East 12th Street, Education; Law-Brown v. Howard High School is linked with one of the five http://pdfhost.fo http://www.np
School Wilmington, New Board of Education public school segregation cases combined in Brown cus.nps.gov/doc s.gov/history/h
Castle County, (1954), and Belton v. v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme s/NHLS/Text/85 istory/school.p
Delaware Gebhart (1953); Politics/ Court decision that struck down the “separate but 000309.pdf df
Government; Social equal” doctrine governing public policy with regard to
Delaware History-Civil Rights race. In the case, Belton v. Gebhart (1953), a Apr. 5, 2005
Movement group of black parents requested that the school
(Desegregation) board allow their children to attend the all-white
school within walking distance of their homes, rather
than busing their children to the all-black Howard
High School.
New Castle County 211 Delaware Street, Law; Politics/ The name of the previously designated National http://pdfhost.fo
Court House New Castle, New Government- Fugitive Historic Landmark was officially changed to New cus.nps.gov/doc
APPENDIX A--AFRICAN AMERICAN NHLs
Castle County, Slave Act of 1793; Social Castle Court House, and its nationally significant s/NHLS/Text/72
Delaware History-Abolitionism and association with the prosecution of two Quaker 000285.pdf
Colonial History abolitionists for violating the Fugitive Slave Act of
Nov. 28, 1972
1793 was formally acknowledged. The courthouse
had originally received NHL designation only in
recognition of its role as the seat of governance in
Delaware during the colonial and early statehood
eras.
Andrew Rankin Howard University, Significant Persons- A portion of the Howard University campus is http://www.nps. http://www.np
Memorial Chapel, Washington, DC Thurgood Marshall and nationally significant for the institution’s role in the gov/nhl/designat s.gov/history/h
17
Founders Library, Charles Hamilton legal establishment of racially desegregated public ions/samples/dc istory/school.p
and Frederick Houston; Law-Brown v. education and for its association with two nationally /howard.pdf df
Douglas Memorial Board of Education recognized leaders of that fight: Charles Hamilton
Hall (Howard (1954); Politics/ Houston and Thurgood Marshall. Beginning in
University) Government; Education; 1929, Howard Law School became an educational
Social History-Civil Rights training ground for civil rights through the vision of
(Desegregation) Charles Hamilton Houston. This program produced
District of
activist black lawyers dedicated to securing the civil Jan. 31, 2001
Columbia
rights of all people of color and, in 1936, established
the first course in civil rights law. Thereafter, lawyer
Thurgood Marshall of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal
Defense Fund (LDF) led the organization’s strategy
to desegregate schools leading up to the Brown v.
Board of Education case. In this case, the U.S.
Supreme Court declared school segregation
unconstitutional.
Blanche K. Bruce 909 M Street, NW Politics/ Government; Blanche K. Bruce was the first African American to http://pdfhost.fo
House Washington, DC Social History- serve a full term in the U.S. Senate from 1875 to cus.nps.gov/doc
Reconstruction 1881. Bruce represented Mississippi and lived in s/NHLS/Text/75
May 15, 1975
this house during his term. He remained in 002046.pdf
Washington, DC and was appointed DC Recorder of
Deeds and Registrar of the U. S. Treasury.You can also read
