black history tours columbia sc

5 ways to honor Black history in Columbia

Discover more about columbia’s african american history..

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Ija Charles mural on the 1600 block of Main Street. | Photo via COLAtoday Team

We’ve rounded up some local ways you can learn more about Columbia’s Black history by virtually exploring or visiting these locations.

🎨 The Ija Charles mural on Main Street tells the story of Columbia’s Black Wall Street — the area of Washington Street from Assembly to Gadsden streets that once featured hundreds of locally-owned businesses that supplied goods and services to the community through the 1970s.

🎓 Columbia is home to two of South Carolina’s eight HBCUs , or Historically Black Colleges and Universities , that both carry rich histories. Take a look back at our deep dive into the history of Allen University and Benedict College and learn more about their most distinguished alumni .

💻 Explore Columbia’s African American Heritage sites from the comfort of your own computer or mobile device , thanks to Historic Columbia’s online walking tours . The tours take you through neighborhoods and districts central to Columbia’s African American history .

🎵 The Columbia Museum of Art (CMA) is offering a variety of programming celebrating Black History Month , including art talks, films, and a celebration of soul music through its “More Than Rhythm: A Black Music Series.”

🚗 Hit the road and explore 300+ historic African American landmarks across the state thanks to a resource called The Green Book of SC . Created by the South Carolina African American Heritage Commission (SCAAHC), this was the first mobile travel guide for Black cultural sites across the state.

To learn more about local African American history, visit Historic Columbia and discover information about four centuries of Columbia’s Black community .

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Hot April Highlights: Art, Festivals and Fireflies Baseball

It's a triple a guide to baseball season in columbia sc 2024, black history month in columbia sc.

Black history flows through the streets of Columbia SC, touching our modern lives through art, politics, food and beyond. This February, we dive deeper into that heritage with Black History Month.

Engage and Learn

African american history monument.

On the east side of the South Carolina State House Grounds you'll find the African American History Monument , which tracks history from the slave trade through the Civil Rights Movement, including monumental legal battles, and on to modern Black leaders in a variety of industries. The monument is said to be the first of it's kind on state house grounds in the United States. 

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Mann-Simons Site

The Mann-Simons Site was home to the same Black family for over 100 years and traces the changes of life in Columbia SC through the lens of this entrepreneurial family. While the house is currently closed due to Covid-19, the gardens are open to the public. This site is particularly interesting because, though only one home still stands, Historic Columbia has created "ghost structures" to provide an idea of the previous buildings that occupied the space, including a lunch counter and grocery store, among others. 

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Historic Columbia (@historiccolumbia)

Columbia SC 63

Curious about the Civil Rights Movement in Columbia SC? Take the self guided Columbia SC 63 walking tour down Main Street . From sit-ins at the Kress Building to marches at the State House Grounds, you'll learn how the movement changed South Carolina's capital and beyond. 

Beyond social and political change, the impact of Black art in Columbia SC is huge. Both contemporary and classic works shape the capital city's identity. Read through our Black art blog to learn more. 

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Alex 🐶🇲🇽 (@alex.ahu)

There are so many ways to celebrate and honor Black history across Columbia SC. Let us know how you're engaging in the comments!

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Your guide to shops, eats and Black history in Columbia SC

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Long known for its universities and state government, downtown Columbia has added an impressive list of restaurants, hangouts, shopping spots and Black history stops.

“There is a more robust public history in places that have evolved over the last two decades,” says Bobby Donaldson, a professor of history at the University of South Carolina and director of its Center for Civil Rights History and Research.

Since 2012, Donaldson has been leading an initiative called Columbia SC 63 , which aims to shine a spotlight on Columbia’s impressive civil rights legacy. In addition to guided tours and a website, Columbia SC 63 has erected markers along Main Street that introduce visitors to that history.

Meanwhile, Experience Columbia SC is preparing to launch a new history trail that focuses on the Reconstruction Era in the city . The trail highlights eight historic sites, as well as notable people from the era. Officials say the trail will launch toward the end of April.

To see Columbia at it’s best, we suggest a Saturday trip, starting with the fun and impressive Soda City Market.

Fun Fact: Columbia has been nicknamed the “Soda City” because of an old abbreviation of Columbia to “Cola.”

Soda City Market

Soda City Market is a gawker’s delight. Held each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. along Main Street, the market offers a dizzying array of food , local crafts , produce and so much more . The market averages about 150 vendors each week, so get there early and leave yourself plenty of time to stroll, eat, shop and people watch. This truly is a signature event.

Black History

Did you know that South Carolina had a majority-Black legislature during the Reconstruction era? That’s just one of the facts you can learn at The Museum of the Reconstruction Era. Housed in the Woodrow Wilson Family Home, the museum is one of several historic sites managed by Historic Columbia .

In the last 15 years, Historic Columbia has sought to paint a more historically accurate picture of the city and its complex racial history, including a more thorough representation of the enslaved people who lived there and their descendants who fought for civil rights and basic dignity.

Because of Covid, Historic Columbia currently is offering outdoor, guided tours at only two of its properties. That’s scheduled to change starting May 1, when indoor tours will be offered with limited capacity and social distancing. The Reconstruction museum will be one of those sites.

If you skip the official tours, you still can get a taste of Columbia’s Black history by striking out on your own. Points of interest are listed on the websites for Historic Columbia and Columbia SC 63 .

Be sure to visit the African American History Monument on the State House grounds. From there it’s an easy (20-minute) walk to the Thomas Cooper Library on the University of South Carolina campus, where the school has erected a statue of Richard Theodore Greener , the university’s first Black faculty member, from 1873 to 1877.

One of our favorite stops was the Mann-Simons Site , which was owned by a Black entrepreneurial family for 130 years and traces the journey of Columbia’s Black community from enslavement through urban renewal. Limited tours of the Mann-Simons Site will resume May 1, but the site has lots of outdoor signage for those who drop by.

Finding something tasty will be the least of your worries. Whether looking for a sit-down meal or something to go, Columbia is developing an impressive array of restaurants .

In the downtown area, our favorites include Blue Marlin , which has outdoor seating (above) under a long canopy that once serviced a train depot. A bit farther out, A Peace of Soul Vegan Kitchen , a Black-owned establishment, really puts soul in vegan food. ( Try the fried “chicken.” ) Main Street has a vegan restaurant too, called Good Life Cafe .

For those wanting a little entertainment with their meals, head to the 1600 block of Main Street. The Grand is a sit-down restaurant with a taproom and full-service bowling alley (reservations required to bowl.) Across the street, The Main Course is a destination all its own. In addition to sit-down dining, it offers two music venues and two floors of golf simulation in a four-story building. On level 3 is an experience called “ Immersion ” — small, art-filled rooms where visitors can hang out and post selfies .

Still hungry? Kiki’s Chicken & Waffles , also Black-owned with two locations in Columbia, is a favorite with locals.

Columbia Museum of Art

The Columbia Museum of Art (1515 Main Street), has a number of galleries, each with its own theme, displaying works of traditional and contemporary artists. During our visit, we discovered a bust depicting Martin Luther King Jr. and this landscape painting, titled “Silver River, North Carolina, 1863 , by Robert Seldon Duncanson (1821-1872). Some art historians consider Duncanson to be the nation’s first Black, internationally known artist. (President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, chose another Duncanson painting as their symbolic gift to Congress following January’s inauguration.) To keep everyone safe, the museum limits admission, and docents are on hand to ensure physical distancing.

Minor League Baseball

The Columbia Fireflies didn’t play at all in 2020 because of Covid, but the team is preparing for a full season this year, including 60 home games at Segra Park. The ballpark opened in 2016 with 9,077 eastward-facing seats, which make afternoon games much more enjoyable during the hot Columbia summers. The Fireflies play in the Low-A East league and recently affiliated with the Kansas City Royals. The first home game is scheduled for May 11th against the Charleston RiverDogs.

While strolling Main Street, we stumbled across Mast General Store , one of two locations in South Carolina. Its creaky, wood floors and busy shelves are reminiscent of a bygone era. We found shoppers buying anything from mustache wax to loose candies to clothing. Main Street has a number of quaint retail shops. If the weather is warm, drop by Sweet Cream Company , a local favorite, for some “handcrafted” ice cream.

Riverbanks Zoo & Garden

Just a 10-minute drive from downtown, Riverbanks Zoo & Garden is home to more than 350 species from nearly every continent, but especially from Africa, Asia, Australia and North America.

Last August, the zoo acquired three southern white rhinos — the first rhinos there since 1989. And while the big mammals and dangerous reptiles often hog the spotlight, the park is home to an impressive aquarium and birdhouse. It also has a botanical garden that blooms year round and a “farm” for some up-close encounters with domesticated critters.

In keeping with Covid protocol, the zoo is limiting the number of people who can enter at once, so reservations are required. As spring arrives and the zoo begins its busy season, those reservations will go fast, so plan ahead.

Columbia has lots to see and do. For more ideas, including a list of hotels, restaurants, events and attractions, visit Experience Columbia SC .

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Black History Highlights

In honor of Black History Month, the City of Columbia will be recognizing several leaders in our municipality who are making history and changing the community.

During the month of February, the City of Columbia will be honoring the four public art murals that are various locations around the city and explaining how each mural tells the story of a civil rights leader or significant moment in black history within the community.

City Manager Teresa Wilson

We recognize City Manager Teresa Wilson as the first African-American woman to serve as city manager for the City of Columbia. Ms.Wilson is a proven leader and trailblazer whose focus is taking the city’s operations to the next level.

Ms. Wilson is set to featured on local billboards around the community as part of a promotion by Grace Outdoor for the month of February.

Councilwoman Tina Herbert

Councilwoman Tina Herbert serves as the first African-American woman to represent District 1 in the City of Columbia!

Columbia Richland Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins

We recognize Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins as the first African-American to serve as  fire chief for the City of Columbia. Chief Jenkins currently leads more than 600 active firefighters, volunteer firefighters and support staff in 32 stations.

Chief Jenkins is set to featured on local billboards around the community as part of a promotion by Grace Outdoor for the month of February.

Public Art Dedications

From the city’s beginning, African Americans have played an integral role in its development.  To document and promote this rich legacy, a series of public art installations were commissioned and installed to chronicle the powerful testimony of African American struggle and achievement.

The art installations will be accompanied by wayside interpretive signage that provides historical context. This was a joint initiative sponsored by Columbia Parks and Recreation Foundation, One Columbia, and the Columbia SC 63 initiative.

1401 Main St.

“The Pursuit of Opportunity, Celebrating African American Business.”

Woodland Park

“The Pursuit of Justice, Sarah Mae Flemming.”

Valencia Park

“The Pursuit of Education, Rosewood Elementary, and School Desegregation.”

“The Pursuit of Citizenship, Benjamin Mack, Septima Clark, and Listervelt Middleton.”

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In accordance with the requirements of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (“ADA”), the City of Columbia will not discriminate against qualified individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability in its services, programs, or activities.

© 2024 City of Columbia, Columbia SC. All Rights Reserved.

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This Museum Exhibit Brings Pride To Growing Up Black in the South

"Intersection on Main Street: African American Life in Columbia" is a beautiful collection of photos and personal mementos of Black history.

Simone Cherí • Feb 21, 2024

Growing up in the South as a Black kid, for many, has been a complex journey for as long as the country has existed. For centuries, the South was often looked at as a place you got away from; a move that marked even the hope of a sliver of greater personal freedom. Although many of today’s textbooks muddy the progress of Black Americans across the country, the stubbornness of the South is particularly compelling. 

To date, the teachings of Black life in the South typically begin with slavery, glossing over nearly a century to the Emancipation Proclamation before landing on the Civil Rights Movement. Our stories often don’t make the cut, in favor of more general history, and the names and legacies of Black America remain in the shadows. One museum exhibit, however, is preserving its city’s history through a free exhibition that highlights important historical moments, both regionally and nationally. 

Intersection on Main Street: African American Life in Columbia is a beautiful collection of photos and personal mementos that paint a more vivid picture of Black life, joy, and progress. Located in the Our Story Matters Gallery at the Columbia Museum of Art , the free exhibit highlights the lives and experiences of African Americans in Columbia, South Carolina from the 1870s to the 1970s.

Showcasing Columbia’s Significance in Southern & Civil Rights History

The Washington Street Business District in South Carolina’s capital city, Columbia , is the focus of many elements of the exhibit. Flanked by Atlanta and Charlotte, Columbia’s Main Street was the stage for several defining moments during the Civil Rights Movement. Intersection on Main Street shows people’s daily lives and experiences in downtown Columbia, focusing on the Black business district on Washington Street. This location is the scene of powerful stories, entrepreneurial spirit, and community resilience that shaped life in the city. 

Intersection captures the vibrancy and resilience of African American history and culture along the Washington Street Corridor. African American citizens’ determination and resistance are also portrayed as they dismantled segregation and discrimination in downtown Columbia.

The studio of famed photographer, Richard Samuel Roberts, lends images to form a large portion of the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibit will have an opportunity to view many of Roberts’ photographs for the first time. Additional materials from the era supplement Roberts’ works including other photographs, newspaper clippings, maps, directories, and other historical artifacts. From family portraits to Black-owned businesses , this curation, led by Dr. Bobby Donaldson, historian and executive director of the Civil Rights Center, is an empowering albeit complex depiction of Black life in Columbia.

“ Intersection provides visitors an opportunity to learn more about the vibrant African American history and culture located in the heart of the city’s downtown corridor,” said Dr. Bobby Donaldson, historian and executive director of the Civil Rights Center. “The exhibition features the individuals, institutions, and organizations of downtown Columbia that established and maintained a resilient Black community and business district in the midst of segregation and discrimination.”

Connecting the Dots, But Questions Remain

“Together, the look down Washington Street and the walk down Main Street provides viewers a unique perspective about chapters of our collective history that often have been overlooked, silenced, and literally uprooted,” shares Dr. Donaldson with Travel Noire.

Throughout the gallery, visitors will view captivating images of unknown or unidentified persons. While the current exhibit is the result of extensive research, the curation team is asking visitors to assist with further identification. Visitors interested in sharing stories or historical items also have the opportunity to contribute to the project.

The Intersection exhibit is on display throughout 2024 and admission is free. Group tours are available on Columbia SC 63’s website. Tours are available Tuesdays through Sundays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursdays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. This exhibit is the perfect addition to lunch downtown or a casual afternoon in Columbia. This museum stop has all the makings of determination, resilience, and Southern pride.

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Historic Columbia

Saturday, September 21st

11 a.m. — 6 p.m.

Jubilee: Festival of Black History and Culture

Mann-Simons Site : 1403 Richland Street, Columbia, SC 29201

Experience the vibrant spirit of history and culture at Jubilee: Festival of Black History & Culture , hosted by Historic Columbia! Join us on Saturday, September 21, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. for a spectacular day filled with music, art, dance, and captivating stories, all set against the backdrop of the Mann-Simons Site .

Now in its 46th year, Jubilee is more than just a festival – it's a FREE celebration that brings together musicians, artisans, dancers, and storytellers to honor the rich tapestry of South Carolina's Black history and culture. Indulge your senses with live music and entertainment, artist demonstrations, historic house tours, and a marketplace featuring a diverse array of wares, products, and art, plus an expanded food court filled with delicious food and beverage vendors. And for families, the Kids Zone awaits, presenting educational and family-friendly activities in collaboration with the  Columbia (SC) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated . We can't wait to see you at Jubilee – a celebration that transcends generations and invites everyone to share in the joy of Black history and culture. See you there!

Jubilee 2023 by the Numbers

8,000+ visitors  75 volunteers  40 marketplace vendors  32 event sponsors  20 food and beverage vendors  14 main stage performers  10 demonstration artists  8 Kids Zone performers  3 bus tours of nearby prominent sites  2 historical house museums open to tour 

Supporting the festival through a financial, in-kind, or media sponsorship helps make Jubilee a FREE community festival for everyone to enjoy! 

Interested in supporting Jubilee?  We'd love your involvement!

Food and Marketplace Vendors can apply to take part in the 2024 Jubilee: Festival of Black History & Culture. Please read the Vendor Application and Agreement , and contact Nathan Brown if you have additional questions. 

Interested in being a food or marketplace vendor? Applications are being accepted through July 31, 2024. 

The Jubilee  Kids Zone  is presented by the  Columbia (SC) Chapter of the Links, Incorporated . Historic Columbia appreciates their generous support of volunteer power and sponsorship for Jubilee!

Interested in participating in the Kids Zone as a demonstrator or performer? Applications are being accepted through May 30, 2024. 

Demonstration Artists

Demonstration Artists have been a memorable part of Jubilee for decades. This interactive component of the festival helps connect festival attendees to their history and heritage through hands-on activities and engagement.

Interested in sharing your craft as a Demonstration Artist? Applications are being accepted through May 30, 2024. 

As the festival draws nearer, we will be seeking service organizations, civic groups, school clubs, and church groups to volunteer at Jubilee.

Interested in volunteering?  Contact  H eather Bacon-Rogers , Visitor Experience Manager, or click the button below to learn about volunteer opportunities.

Contact  JoCora Moore ,  Community Engagement Coordinator (803) 252-7742 ext. 24

Thank You to our Sponsors!

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New Alabama sculpture park, Black history museums are changing the way history is told

MONTGOMERY, Ala. ‒ From a wooden bench at the edge of the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, visitors can see the Alabama River where enslaved Africans were transported and sold into a life of forced labor.

From the wide windows on the second floor of the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, visitors can look across the Cooper River toward Africa , where people from the continent were kidnapped to be auctioned off.

The sculpture park opens Wednesday. The international museum opened last summe r. Both were built on sites considered sacred and important to telling the history of African Americans, to telling the history of America.

“We have to build these places where we can tell the story, save the story, steward the story,’’ said Tonya Matthews, president and CEO of the International African American Museum . “But one of the challenges has been the curation of the story. Who is picking the stories? Who is telling the stories? What stories do we believe should have grand institutions? Arguably, the African American story has not been in the category that was thought to need a grand institution.’’

The museum and monument park are among a growing number of sites across the country opening in the past decade to preserve and celebrate Black History and the Black experience in America. Some are multimillion-dollar museums , while others are housed in small interpretive centers.

In Mississippi, there is the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson and the B.B. King Museum in the blues legend's hometown of Indianola. In Alabama, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice tells the story of the nation’s troubling history of lynching, and in Washington, D.C., the National Museum of African American History and Culture , showcases the journey of Black people across the United States.

Black museums have long been “cultural anchors’’ in their communities, but it has been only in recent years that more have raised enough money and garnered enough support to open, museum leaders said. The institutions matter even more today as lawmakers in some states push to restrict the teaching of Black history and ban some books that tell this history, experts said.

“History matters in profoundly important ways,’’ said Lonnie Bunch, founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture and now secretary of the Smithsonian. “And it's partly museums' job to articulate that and to provide an opportunity to use history to define reality and give hope.”

New sculpture park tells history of slavery in the US

On a recent afternoon, the Alabama River rose so high the boat that would have ferried visitors from downtown Montgomery to the new Freedom Memorial Sculpture Park wasn’t in service. The voyage is intended to introduce visitors to the site along the waterway enslaved people traveled.

The park, which opens March 27, sits on a 17-acre site between the river and the railroad tracks enslaved people were forced to lay.

Nearly all the works in the park were created by African American, African and Indigenous artists. Some are part of the permanent collection; others are on loan. Each tells a story.

Acknowledging Indigenous people who lived on the land long before Europeans arrived, there are sculptures honoring their culture, their presence, their resilience. A bronze sculpture created by Allan Houser pictures a man hunting buffalo. Steps away stands Cliff Fragua's “Three Sisters,’’ made of Utah alabaster.

Further along the path, a map tracing the Transatlantic Slave Trade shows nearly 3 million people were trafficked from Luanda, Angola, from 1501 to 1867.

Wooden pillars report dates and counties where enslaved people were brought. From 1619 to 1774, 3,996 were taken to Hampton, Virginia .

Visitors walk along a trail made with resin to make it feel more like earth. They can read ''slave laws'' that banned enslaved people from traveling off plantations without written permission. Punishments included floggings, sometimes death.

The narrative of William Wells Brown tells the story of his escape from slavery. (He went on to lecture against slavery and write what is considered the first novel by an African American.)

There is “Last Seen,’’ panels featuring ads posted by people searching for wives, mothers, husbands. Many spent their last nickels and dimes looking for loved ones, said Bryan Stevenson, who created the park and founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization pushing to end mass incarceration.

“That just reinforces how much for enslaved people the most important thing about slavery was the ability to love someone , to find your children, your siblings, your parents,’’ Stevenson told USA TODAY in an interview ahead of the park's opening. “That was powerful.”

Near the end of the path, visitors look toward the sky at the National Monument to Freedom, a 43-foot-high, 155-foot-wide steel structure that bears 122,000 ''unique'' surnames adopted by Black people in the 1870 Census. It was the first count where enslaved Black people were listed by name.

Plans for the wall went from 20 feet high to 30 feet to 43 feet. ‘‘The history of our people deserves to be on something big,’’ Stevenson said.

Part of the inscription Stevenson wrote for the wall reads: “The country you built must honor you. We acknowledge the tragedy of your enslavement. We commit to advancing freedom in your name.’’

Black museums are about storytelling

Museums bring in lifelong learners, while artifacts help humanize history, Bunch said . They teach visitors about slavery , for instance , through the tale of a family or a plantation.

“They're all about storytelling, making you care about the people whose histories you explore,’’ Bunch said.

Since the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture opened in 2016, people have been more interested in visiting their local museums and creating new ones, said Vedet Coleman-Robinson, executive director of the Association of African American Museums.

The museum had 1.6 million visitors last year.

Today, there are about 300 African American - focused museums, including virtual ones. More are scheduled to open soon, including the National Urban League’s Civil Rights Museum in Harlem, the Go-Go Museum in Washington, D.C, The Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx, and the National Juneteenth Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

“Now is the time for people to really get familiar with our museums and our history,’’ Coleman-Robinson said. “We’re past due.”

The early Black museums opened decades ago because the history of African Americans wasn’t included in mainstream institutions, Coleman-Robinson said. “Our museums have really been voices for their communities.’’

Charleston highlights local Black history

It’s not lost on visitors to the International African American Museum at what was once the busiest slave port in Northeast America, where hundreds of thousands of Africans were brought to Gadsden’s Wharf to be sold into generations of slavery.

The idea for the museum began about 20 years ago, and plans changed and expanded over the decades. 

“It became clear that Charleston didn't just need to tell its own story ‒ that we were the linchpin in the much larger story of that beginning period of slavery in America,’’ Matthews said.

More than 100,000 people have visited since the museum opened last summer.

In addition to its focus on slavery, museum visitors explore the history of Africa and the African diaspora. They also learn about the region's rich arts and culture.

“The circle got even wider, and folks decided that … this period of slavery is neither the beginning nor the end of the African American journey,’’ Matthews said.

On one recent afternoon, Suzanne Johnson sat on a bench inside the Praise House exhibit at the museum. She hummed along as she watched a video of people singing and celebrating the rich Gullah Geechee culture. She watched it again, then again.

The stop at the museum last month was a must for Johnson and her daughter, Cameron Mine, who were visiting from Miami. They spent hours in the museum seeing exhibits like the slave tags Black people had to wear. There was #758 porter, #672 servant. There was a black wall listing names forced on enslaved Africans and another with names they came with like Cando, Tooguah and Sannar.

The Praise House particularly stirred emotions for Johnson , whose grandmother has roots in South Carolina.

“If they take our stories from us, we cease to exist,” said Johnson, 51. “The beauty of this museum is it weaves our stories together.’’

Johnson believes museums are necessary especially now to counter restrictions like in her home state of Florida, where the College Board's Advanced Placement African American Studies course was banned . “They’re trying to stifle our story,’’ she said.

Johnson was excited to see that next to the Praise House, construction for new exhibits had begun. “I intend to grow with the museum,’’ she said.

'Igniting a cultural renaissance'

Museums help expand public education about African American history, said Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund and senior vice president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation , the nonprofit that established the fund.

“We're at a moment of igniting both cultural reckoning around the gaps in the American story and the need to more equitably interpret American history,’’ Leggs said. “We’re also igniting a cultural renaissance.”

Matthews, of the International African American Museum, said there is finally a recognition that the African American story doesn’t just fit in an art gallery and that it should be included in every museum focused on American history.

“There is also room to have entire spaces dedicated to the story so we can get into the nuances, so we can talk about it from different perspectives,’’ Matthews said.

Heaven Campbell and Karissa Pelichet stopped at the painting of a family in the international museum, discussing the pain of learning the father had been lynched.

The sophomores from North Carolina A&T State University were recently in Charleston to visit the museum and learn more about the city’s Black history. They had also booked a Black Heritage walking tour for that afternoon.

“We love Black History and how it shows how far we’ve come,’’ said Pelichet, 20.

The roommates had visited other museums in the past, including The King Center in Atlanta and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. “It ties everything together,” Pelichet said of the visits.

Campbell, who has taken several African American study classes, said it’s on people to explore their heritage.  

“We can’t depend on the public school system to teach our history,’’ said Campbell, 20, adding that visiting museums is only part of learning about Black history. “It should be a stepping stone, but not our only stepping stone.”

Black history restrictions spur more interest

The push to teach more Black history comes as dozens of states, including Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, have adopted or proposed measures that critics say omit crucial parts of Black history . Some have also banned books, many of them by Black authors that focus on race.

The restrictions have spurred more people to educate themselves , museum leaders said.

‘’The more we try to clamp down on some things, frankly, the more people are talking about it and then they start to seek out places to find this story,’’ Matthews said. “Many will look for specifically authentic places.’’

That’s often a Black museum, experts said.

“The broader public understands that museums and historic sites are supplemental places of knowledge and education and are critically important at this moment in our history,’’ Leggs said.

Bunch said there will always be interest in Black museums regardless of political pushback.

“You want to make sure that those museums are strong so when the pendulum swings and more and more people are coming to the subject, they have good museums to explore.’’

To learn more: Black churches in Florida buck DeSantis: 'Our churches will teach our own history.'

The Freedom Monument Sculpture Park is the latest of three EJI history projects in Montgomery. More than 2 million people have visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Legacy Museum since they opened in 2018.

Stevenson called the response ‘’affirming’’ and ‘’encouraging.’’

“That has helped me believe that what we're doing can have an impact and has power, and we should keep trying to do it,’’ he said.

The reaction to their first two sites led the EJI to create the sculpture park with its focus on slavery. “I really hope that we begin to understand that the institution of slavery created harms that have a legacy and that we need to understand those harms,’’ Stevenson said.

'An investment well worth making'

Not all new Black museums are mega structures. Some focus on one person or moment in history. Some don’t have a building at all. The Sankofa Mobile Museum recently visited schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland, teaching local Black history.

An old storefront in Sumner, Mississippi, houses the Emmett Till Interpretive Center and features exhibits about the 14-year old Black teenager who was murdered by white men in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett’s death was a catalyst in the Civil Rights Movement.

Other new opportunities: Several Black museums have opened in recent years with more coming soon. Here's a list.

The center opened in 2016. Last summer, President Joe Biden signed a proclamation establishing the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument at three historic sites in Mississippi and Illinois, where Emmett was from.

“It really is going to be a place more of reflection so people can think about (what happened),’’ said Daphne Chamberlain, a civil rights historian in Mississippi who is working with the center. "It's always important that we remember, and if we don't remember, what we're also doing is subscribing to all of these attacks on Black history.’’

African American historic sites have long been underfunded and undervalued, experts say.

The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has received more than 6,000 requests totaling $700 million in the past six years, including some from museums and historic sites.

Leggs said there aren’t enough funders for such preservation projects. “This is critically important, but this funding is often short-term gap investing,’’ he said.

More local communities should support Black museums, Leggs said, particularly since many are “cultural anchors.’’

The price tag for the International African American Museum grew to $100 million. It received money from private and public entities, including the state, county and city.

“Ask and you shall receive, but ask many, many times,’’ Matthews said.

Museum officials made the case that the new institution would fit with the region's brand of promoting its history. Matthews says that “is what began to make folks more and more comfortable.''

It has been only in more recent years that there has been the capability to build some Black museums, Stevenson said. He doesn’t believe the Equal Justice Initiative could have done it 10 years ago.

“We didn't have the ability to create institutions with autonomy like the institutions that we've created, but now we do,’’ Stevenson said. “We have resources. We have capacity. We just have to make sure we have vision.’’

EJI doesn’t take government funding. Visitors pay $5 for admission to the sites to keep it affordable.

The cost for the sculpture park, where construction is still underway, is expected to climb to about $20 million.

“What we did on the other two sites has made me believe it's an investment well worth making,’’ said Stevenson, adding that the response has been overwhelming. “When I hear some of the things I hear, when the students come through and people come through, there’s no limit to what I would spend to try to create that kind of consciousness.”