African American History & Culture

Historically, stories about Black heritage, culture, and community have been missing or excluded from the American story. A growing number of national park sites are now preserving and elevating these stories. African American history and culture is highlighted at Dr. Carter G. Woodson's historic home office in Washington, D.C., Nicodemus, a Reconstruction-era Kansas town, and the Robert E. Lee Memorial, where freed and enslaved African Americans established a community on the same land in which they were enslaved. New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park outside of Boston, which tells the story of America’s whaling industry, also shares the life of a young Frederick Douglass, who worked on the city’s wharves. And Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve, which preserves Louisiana’s history, culture, and communities, shares the story of Ruby Nell Bridges Hall, the first African American child to desegregate William Frantz Elementary School at just six years old. African American stories are entwined in the past and present histories of the over 400 national parks across the country.

Note: In this messaging, NPF uses the language Black and African American interchangeably. While the intent is to honor inclusivity and be representative of various ways that people identify, we recognize that this language does not account for all identities. We also recognize the importance and need of specificity in reference to particular communities.