Celebrating Black History Month is for everyone! February is a time to recognize the contributions and tribulations of African Americans. You can visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, visit a local historical site, attend a local event or support Black artists & entrepreneurs as a family.

We love sharing local Black culture with our children, but it is important to us not to gloss over the very brutal Black History in America. These are hard conversations, but pale in comparison to the sacrifices made by so many.

We let stories do some of the teaching for us, after all it is not our family’s history to share. If you are looking for books, start with the books from the Coretta Scott King Book Awards list. New this year, Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winning Author Lesa Cline-Ransome and Coretta Scott King Medalist James Ransome, bring the Great Migration to life on the pages of this tribute to the families that travelled North in Overground Railroad.

Celebrate Black History Month with a movie night! Best Movies Right Now has some great suggestions with 15 KIDS’ BLACK HISTORY MOVIES ON NETFLIX and 10 BEST BLACK HISTORY MOVIES FOR KIDS IN THE CLASSROOM.

There are no upcoming events at this time.

Discover Black History Sites Across the DMV

Locations related to the Underground Railroad are part of the Network to Freedom program. These locations include sites, facilities and programs, most of which can be visited. This map by the National Park Service includes the locations of those open to the public and/or include public information about properties. Some locations are not plotted on the map for privacy and/or security reasons. The list of all Network to Freedom locations is available for download from the National Park Service (accessible PDF).

In the District:

• African American Civil War Memorial, NPS, National Mall and Memorial Park
• Asbury United Methodist Church
• Blanche K. Bruce Burial Site, Woodlawn Cemetery
• Blanche K. Bruce House
• Camp Greene and Contraband Camp, NPS, George Washington Memorial Parkway
• Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, NPS
• From Slavery to Freedom, African American Civil War Memorial Museum
• Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University
• John Little Farm Site (Kalorama Park)
• Leonard Grimes Property Site
• Mary Ann Shadd Cary House
• Mt. Pleasant Plains Cemetery at Walter Pierce Park
• Old City Hall
• The Pearl Affair Site
• Pen or Pencil: Writing a New History
• Slavery and the Underground Railroad with a Focus on the Nation’s Capital, NPS, President’s Park
• Washingtoniana Division, DC Public Library
• William Boyd, John Dean, David A. Hall, and Hannibal Hamlin Burial Sites at Congressional Cemetery

In Maryland:

• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park
• Banneker- Douglass Museum (Annapolis)
• Maryland State Archives (Annapolis)
• Maryland State House (Annapolis)
• Dugan’s Wharf Site: Tilly’s Escape (Baltimore)
• Frederick Douglass Freedom and Heritage Trail & Tour (Baltimore)
• Mount Clare (Baltimore)
• President Street Station (Baltimore)
• Reddy Gray Burial Site, Loudon Park National Cemetery (Baltimore)
• Reginald F. Lewis Museum (Baltimore)
• Underground Railroad: Maryland’s Network to Freedom (Baltimore)
• Hays-Heighe House: Sam Archer Escape (Bel Air)
• Camp Stanton, USCT (Benedict)
• Belair Mansion (Bowie)
• Northampton Slave Quarters and Archaeological Park (Bowie)
• Adventures of Harriet Tubman (Cambridge)
• Buttons Creek: Jane Kane Escape Site (Cambridge)
• Dorchester County Courthouse (Cambridge)
• Experience Harriet Tubman by Land (Cambridge)
• Experience Harriet Tubman by Sea (Cambridge)
• Experience Harriet Tubman by Sea II (Cambridge)
• Finding a Way to Freedom Driving Tour (Cambridge)
• Jacob Jackson Home Site (NPS, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Monument) (Cambridge)
• Long Wharf at Cambridge (Cambridge)
• Pritchett Meredith Farm: Escapes of Thomas Elliot, Denard Hughes, and John Wesley Hughes (Cambridge)
• Staplefort Farm: Bob Manokey Escape Site (Cambridge)
• Todd Research Center –African American Collection, Dorchester County Historical Society (Cambridge)
• Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (Chesapeake City)
• Henry Highland Garnet Escape Site (Chestertown)
• Roedown Farm (Davidsonville)
• Caroline County Courthouse and Jail (Denton)
• Choptank River (Denton)
• Denton Steamboat Wharf Site, Choptank River (Denton)
• Joseph Cornish Escape from Gilpin’s Point (Denton)
• Richard Potter Home Site (Denton)
• Richard Potter Rescue Celebration Site (Denton)
• Harriet Tubman Conference (East New Market)
• Isaac Henry Wright, Sr., Farm Site/ Escape of 4 Men with Harriet (East New Market)
• Reverend Samuel Green and the Original Colored People’s Methodist Church (East New Market)
• Frederick Douglass Driving Tour of Talbot County (Easton)
• Howard County Courthouse (1840-1842) (Ellicott City)
• Howard County Courthouse (1843) (Ellicott City)
• Howard County Historical Society (Ellicott City)
• Howard County Jail (Ellicott City)
• Rockland (Fairplay)
• Mouth of Swan Creek Escape Site (Fort Washington)
• Best Farm/ L’Hermitage, NPS, Monocacy National Battlefield (Frederick)
• Marietta House (Glenn Dale)
• Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, NPS (Hagerstown)
• Ferry Hill Plantation, NPS, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park (Hagerstown)
• Sotterley (Hollywood)
• Southern Maryland Studies Center (La Plata)
• Elizabeth Keckly Burial Site (Largo)
• Old Jail of St. Mary’s County (Leonardtown)
• Thornton Poole House (Linganore)
• Parson’s Creek: Keene Family Escape Route (Madison)
• Grantham and Forrest Farm (Millington)
• Shawnee Old Field Village Site, NPS, Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historic Park (Oldtown)
• Berry Farm, NPS, National Capital Parks- East (Oxon Hill)
• Long Island Farm (Parkville)
• Perryville Railroad Ferry and Station Site (Perry Point)
• Port Tobacco Courthouse (Port Tobacco)
• Arthur W. Leverton Farm (Preston)
• Jacob and Hannah Leverton House (Preston)
• Poplar Neck Plantation at Marsh Creek (Preston)
• Belle Vue (Queenstown)
• A Journey Begins (Ridgely)
• Freedom Site of Emily Plummer, Riversdale (Riversdale Park)
• Jane C. Sween Library, Montgomery Co. Historical Society (Rockville)
• Riley Farm/ Bolten House, Josiah Henson Park (Rockville)
• In Their Steps (Rockville)
• Rural Legacy Trail: UGRR Experience (Sandy Spring)
• Underground Railroad Experience Trail Hike (Sandy Spring)
• Point Lookout State Park (Scotland)
• William Chaplin Arrest Site (Silver Spring)
• Jefferson Patterson Park and Museum (St. Leonard)
• Margaret Morgan Birthplace at Mille Green (Street)
• Catoctin Iron Furnace and Manor House Ruins (Thurmont)
• Hampton National Historic Site, NPS (Towson)
• Darnall’s Chance (Upper Marlboro)
• Mount Calvert Historical and Archaeological Park (Upper Marlboro)
• Gorsuch Tavern (Verona)

In Virginia

• Alexandria Archaeology Museum (Alexandria)
• Alexandria Freedmen’s Cemetery (Alexandria)
• Alexandria Library Special Collections Branch (Alexandria)
• Birch Slave Pen (Alexandria)
• Bruin’s Slave Jail (Alexandria)
• Freedmen’s Aid Workers Site (Alexandria)
• Gadsby’s Tavern Museum (Alexandria)
• Brentsville Courthouse and Jail (Bristow)
• Sully Historic Site (Chantilly)
• Fairfax Citcuit Court-Historical Records Room (Fairfax)
• Moncure Conway House (Falmouth)
• Fort Monroe: Freedom Fortress (NPS, Fort Monroe National Monument) (Fort Monroe)
• Buckland Farm (Gainesville)
• Conn’s Ferry (Great Falls)
• Evergreen (Haymarket)
• Appomatox Plantation (NPS, Petersburg National Battlefield)
• Loudoun County Courthouse (Leesburg)
• Oatlands Plantation (Leesburg)
• Thomas Balch Library (Leesburg)
• Arlington House, Robert E. Lee Memorial (NPS, George Wahington Memorial Parkway) (McLean)
• James A. Fields House (Newport News)
• Downtown Norfolk Waterfront (Norfolk)
• Leonard Black, Rev., Burial Site (Petersburg)
• Petersburg Court House (Petersburg)
• African Methodist Society (Emanuel AME) (Portsmouth)
• African Americans: From Slavery to Emancipation (Richmond)
• Library of Virginia (Richmond)
• Virginia Historical Society (Richmond)
• Spotsylvania County Courthouse Jail (Spotsylvania)
• Aquia Landing (Stafford)
• Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (Suffolk)
• UGRR Experience: Moses Grandy, Charles Grandy and the Road to Freedom (Suffolk)
• Tangier Island (Tangier)
• Afro-American Historical Association of Fauquier County (The Plains)
• The Old Jail (Fauquier History Museum) (Warrenton)
• Kitty Payne Site, Rappahannock County Jail (Washington)
• Rappahanock County Jail (Washington)
• Melrose Farm (Waterford)
• Rippon Lodge (Woodbridge)
• Leesylvania (Woodbridge)