At the beginning of February, Black History Month, the former slave Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) was much in the news. The most prominent African American of the 19th century, he first moved to Washington, D.C. in the early 1870s after his home in Rochester, New York burned down. Here he published his newspaper, The New National Era. From 1877 until his death in 1895, Douglass lived and worked in a stately Victorian house, called Cedar Hill, overlooking the Anacostia River. The property is in the D.C. Southeast quadrant and has been maintained since 1988 as a National Historic Site by the National Park Service.
Tag: African American history
Faith Congregational Church in Hartford, Connecticut has a 195 year legacy that includes a noteworthy collection of historical materials, including an extensive collection of historical papers and artifacts. This collection more »
In celebration of the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture this weekend, we’ve put together a special digital collection of titles related to the African American experience. Many of these books come from our National Museum of African American History and Culture Library, which will open in the museum later this year. Below are a few highlights from the collection. To see the entire collection, visit Celebrating African American History and Culture in our Digital Library.
Shauna Collier, Librarian for the National Museum of African American History & Culture, contributed this post.
Late last year my dream of becoming the librarian for the National Museum of African American History & Culture (NMAAHC) came true, and a month ago I returned to the Smithsonian Libraries (I worked here years ago as the Anacostia Librarian). After receiving the warmest welcome from my library and museum colleagues, I started receiving the question “So what’s happening with the NMAAHC Library?” Well, it is all still coming together, but I will use this opportunity to give a brief update.