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8 Destinations to Celebrate Black History Month

The African American experience is on display in these cities

historic beale street music district memphis tennessee
Stroll down Beale Street to hear the sounds of Memphis, Tennessee.
Getty Images
By

Sheeka Sanahori,

 
AARP
Published February 06, 2023
/ Updated January 29, 2024

Black History Month is the perfect time to learn about and become inspired by the Black experience in the United States. There are plenty of options, from the Civil Rights Trail, with hundreds of destinations across 15 states and the District of Columbia, to the newest museum openings. Here are eight Black History Month destinations to add to your travel list.

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An exhibit at the International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina
The International African American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, opened in 2023.
Randy Duchaine / Alamy Stock Photo

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston’s International African American Museum tells the story of Africans’ forced migration into South Carolina, and the entire United States. The museum ($22 for adults; $14 for those 62 and older and military with ID) sits on a former port where an estimated 40 percent of enslaved Africans first set foot in the U.S. There’s a reflecting garden and infinity fountain on the edge of the original wharf. The museum is home to the Center for Family History, a department offering weekly genealogy classes to help families learn to trace their lineages. Top off your visit by going to the Charleston City Market where you can pick up a traditional Gullah sweetgrass basket and a meal at Hannibal’s Soul Kitchen on Blake Street.

an exhibit in the national museum of african american music in nashville tennessee
The interactive National Museum of African American Music opened in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2021.
National Museum of African American Music

Nashville, Tennessee

Dozens of music genres and styles have been created or influenced by African Americans. At the National Museum of African American Music in downtown Nashville, visitors can appreciate America’s sound and the people who shaped it. The interactive museum ($26.95 for adults; $24.95 for those 65 and older and military) opened in 2021 and gives visitors a curated playlist to take home. About 2 miles away is Fisk University, a historically Black college that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places and counts W.E.B. Du Bois, Nikki Giovanni and John Lewis among its graduates. Finally, get the original taste of Nashville with a stop at Prince’s Hot Chicken.

the lorraine motel museum in memphis tennessee
A wreath marks where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee. The location is now the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel.
Alamy Stock Photo

Memphis, Tennessee

A visit to Memphis isn’t complete without stopping at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel ($20 for adults; $18 for people 65 and older; free for active military). Another essential stop is the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, where Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famed “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech the day before he was assassinated. Next, stroll down Beale Street to hear the sounds of the city while sipping a brew from Memphis’ Black-owned microbrewery, Beale Street Brewing Co. If you prefer beans over brews, check out Dr. Bean’s Coffee and Tea on South Main Street.

A sculpture of Rosa Parks in the Rosa Parks Museum and Library in Montgomery, Alabama
A sculpture of Rosa Parks sits in the Rosa Parks Museum on the Troy University campus in Montgomery, Alabama.
Ian Dagnall / Alamy Stock Photo

Montgomery, Alabama

Alabama’s capital has a wealth of stops on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail, thanks to the movement’s luminaries. Tourists can visit the steps of Alabama’s state Capitol, where King spoke to 25,000 supporters after marching from Selma, Alabama, for voting rights. Off the Civil Rights Trail, Troy University’s Rosa Parks Museum ($7.50 for adults; $1 off for military with current ID and AARP members with a current card) includes a historical marker where Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus. The Legacy Museum interprets American history from African American enslavement to segregation and mass incarceration. It plans to open a sculpture park near the Alabama River in early 2024. One ticket ($5) gets visitors into the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the upcoming Freedom Monument Sculpture Park. The museum offers free shuttles to take visitors to all three sites.

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a man sitting in the contemplative court at the national museum of african american history and culture in washington d c
The Contemplative Court is within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Washington, D.C.

Since its opening in 2016, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture remains the quintessential destination to learn about African American life, history and culture. Free timed-entrance passes are required; advanced reservations are encouraged. It takes at least two hours (and usually more) to tour the mile-long history galleries. Wheelchairs, ramps and elevators are available. End the day with a meal at Georgia Brown’s on 15th Street Northwest for a taste of Low Country cuisine.

the be good or be gone show at the apollo theatre in harlem new york city new york
The Apollo Theater in New York is one of many landmarks that commemorate Harlem’s cultural renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s.
Alamy Stock Photo

New York

Harlem has long been a hub for African American arts, thanks to the cultural renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s. Many landmarks commemorate this history, including the famed Apollo Theater on West 125th Street, the jazz club Minton’s Playhouse — the birthplace of bebop — and the Langston Hughes House on East 127th Street. Finish a trip in Harlem by checking out one of the rotating exhibits at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture or by trying a craft beer at Harlem Hops, a Black-owned bar specializing in a wide variety of brews.

The Greenwood Rising museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Greenwood Rising museum tells the story of “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before and after the 1921 race massacre.
Jim West / Alamy Stock Photo

Tulsa, Oklahoma

Since it opened in 2021, the Greenwood Rising museum has shared the story of Tulsa’s prosperous Black Wall Street business district, the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and how the Black community has overcome such violence and systemic oppression. A timed-entry ticket ($15 for adults; $10 for those 65 and older and military) is required. After perusing Greenwood Rising’s exhibits, stroll through Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District. Grab a coffee at Black Wall Street Liquid Lounge on Greenwood Avenue. The cafe owner’s family has lived in Tulsa for three generations and even survived the massacre.

chicago a crossroads of america exhibition in the chicago history museum in illinois
Check out the “Chicago: Crossroads of America” exhibit at the Chicago History Museum.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Chicago

The Chicago History Museum ($19 for nonmember adults; $17 for nonmembers 65-plus) acquired more than 5 million images from the Chicago Sun-Times, one of the largest photo acquisitions of its kind by an American museum. The photographs cover a wide range of Black history in Chicago, including the activism of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton and Barack Obama the night he won the 2008 presidential election. Two art pieces in the city honor Chicago’s role in the Great Migration: a bronze statue of a traveler waving at his new home on the South Side and The Great Migration mural on Michigan Avenue in Bronzeville.

Editor's note: This article was originally published on February 6, 2023. It has been updated to reflect new information.

Sheeka Sanahori is a freelance travel journalist and the founder of “Inherited Travel,” a newsletter for travelers who want to make more socially conscious travel choices.​ ​

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