African American History Landmarks

        The Lincoln Memorial

Statue of Abraham Lincoln, Washington, D.C. (photo from Flickr)

         The Lincoln Memorial was built in 1922 to heal national divisions caused by the Civil War but the freedom that Lincoln stood for still hadn't reached the people. Over time, the statue of Abraham Lincoln witnessed many events that represented the memorial's purpose for civil rights. The most memorable event was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Stood and delivered his most famous speech and called for an end to racism in the United States in front of a crowd of more than 250,000 people. This event truly fought for what the location symbolizes, which is Lincoln’s belief in freedom and dignity for all.  

            University of Michigan 

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan (photo from Wikimedia)

            The University of Michigan was where Moses Fleetwood Walker, an African American barehanded catcher that debuted in the league with the Toledo Blue Stockings, studied at. Everyone knows about Jackie Robinson, but sixty-three years before him was Moses Fleetwood Walker. He played baseball while in school and abandoned his law studies at the University of Michigan to play with the Blue Stockings. Walker was a great player but suffered with threats and slurs. In his debut he made a lot of errors but with the pressure and hate he had to try to get use to because of the color of his skin, it was understandable. In 42 games with Toledo Blue Stockings in his debut year (1884), Walker had a .263 batting average with 40 hits and 23 runs scored. After a while Walker was forced out of baseball, and MLB owners established a “gentlemen’s agreement” that would keep African Americans off rosters until 1947 when Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers.   

        Akili Academy (WIlliam Frantz Elementary School)

William Frantz Elementary now known as Akili Academy, New Orleans (photo from NARA & DVIDS public domain archive)

William Frantz Elementary School, now known as Akili Academy, was where a six-year-old by the name of Ruby Bridges advanced the cause of civil rights. In November 1960 Ruby Bridges became the first African American student to integrate an elementary school in the south. Ruby and five other students were the only African American children that passed the exam to attend an all-white school. However, Ruby was the only one that decided to go to William Frantz. There she had to pass crowds screaming vicious slurs and threats. Ruby was alone and was taught in a class of one. Her and her whole family suffered as her father lost his job, her mother was ignored at stores and her grandparents were evicted from their home. This sparked something in the African American community, and many protested throughout the city. Ruby put up with this mistreatment for years and never missed a day of school. She graduated from a desegregated high school and continued to live her life being a lifelong activist for racial equality, writing two books both receiving the Carter G. Woodson Book Award and in 1999 established The Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote tolerance and create change through education.   

U.S Supreme Court

U.S Supreme Court, Washington D.C. (photo from Flickr)

In 1954, the Supreme Court had the case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. In this case the justices ruled unanimously that it was unconstitutional for children in public schools to be racial segregated. This case was one of the cornerstones of the civil rights movement. This helped change the separate but equal claim and demonstrated that that was not equality.

Apollo Theatre

The Apollo Theater, Harlem, New York. (photo from Wikimedia commons)

The Apollo Theatre was created in 1913 and located in Harlem, New York. It started off with the entertainment being all-white but in 1932 the Apollo was purchased by Sydney S. Cohen and Morris Sussman and was then reopened as a black-oriented theatre on January 26,1934. The Apollo was where many famous artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday debuted and were discovered during the theatre’s “amateur night”. The Apollo Theatre is now holding landmark status from the U.S. government and gains millions of visitors.