America's Black Holocaust Museum

America's Black Holocaust Museum Our Museum's 4 Themes: Remembrance, Resistance, Redemption, Reconciliation

The museum comprises eight online galleries, with exhibits tracing the American experience of black people from pre-captivity in Africa to present day. Exhibits include interpretive text, videos, still images, and interactive opportunities. Visitors can dialog within each exhibit, contribute text and video, shop the gift store, follow links to additional resources, and more.

On September 4, 1949, Paul Robeson took the stage at a concert near Peekskill, New York, before an audience of more than...
09/04/2026

On September 4, 1949, Paul Robeson took the stage at a concert near Peekskill, New York, before an audience of more than 20,000 people. The concert was peaceful. Violence erupted afterward, when an anti-Communist mob attacked people leaving the grounds. The attacks, together with violence surrounding an earlier concert on August 27, became known as the Peekskill Riots.

Robeson was one of the most accomplished Black Americans of his generation. He attended Rutgers College, where he became the first Black player on Rutgers football team. He later studied law at Columbia University while playing professional football. He became internationally known for his performances on stage and screen, including his celebrated portrayal of Othello.

Robeson also spoke for civil rights, workers’ rights, and peace. His left-wing politics and support for the Progressive Party made him a target during the early Cold War. His appearance at a benefit concert for the Civil Rights Congress brought political tensions into conflict with racial hostility and antisemitism.

The first concert, scheduled for August 27, was stopped by violence before Robeson could perform. Protesters attacked concertgoers, damaged property, burned a cross on a nearby hill, and blocked roads. Robeson returned to Harlem and vowed to come back. The September 4 concert was held at a different location.

After the performance, attackers lined the roads and threw rocks at departing cars and buses. People were beaten. Among those attacked was Eugene Bullard, a Black World War I veteran and the first Black military pilot to fly for France. More than 140 people were reported injured. Police stood by during parts of the attacks, raising serious questions about the protection of concertgoers.

The violence also intensified a broader campaign against Robeson. His concerts were canceled, he was blacklisted, and the State Department revoked his passport in 1950. He challenged the restriction in court, and in 1958 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizens could not be denied passports because of their political beliefs or associations.

The Peekskill Riots remain an important chapter in the history of race, political repression, free expression, and civil liberties in the United States.



More info:
https://scholarsarchive.library.albany.edu/history_honors/43/
https://www.timesunion.com/history/article/peekskill-riots-paul-robeson-racism-18279119.php
https://www.abhmuseum.org/galleries/

Images:
1) Paul Robeson sings "Old Man River" at the Sept 4, 1949 concert in Peekskill.
2) Rioters overturning a car during the violent attacks at the Peekskill Riots in New York.
3) "Law" enforcement officers violently confronting World War I veteran Eugene Bullard during the Peekskill riots in New York on Sept 4, 1949.

Here are our next three ABHM Book Club selections!On September 26th we will discuss Colson Whitehead’s The Underground R...
09/03/2026

Here are our next three ABHM Book Club selections!

On September 26th we will discuss Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad for International Underground Railroad Month; to coincide with the Halloween season, we will discuss The Black Guy Dies First on October 24th; and for Indigenous History Month, we will read An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays and discuss it on November 21st.

We will have our discussions in person at the museum and online. Admission is always free, but participants will need to purchase their own copies of the books.

Learn more and register: https://www.abhmuseum.org/events-calendar/

Romare Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He became one of the most influential Black ...
09/02/2026

Romare Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He became one of the most influential Black American artists of the 20th century, creating paintings, collages, prints and writings that explored family, community, history, music and everyday life.

Bearden moved with his family to Harlem in 1914 as part of the Great Migration. His mother, Bessye Bearden, became a prominent civic leader and New York editor for the Chicago Defender. Their Harlem home was a gathering place for artists, writers, musicians and activists. Bearden grew up surrounded by figures of the Harlem Renaissance, including Duke Ellington, Countee Cullen and Paul Robeson.

North Carolina and Pittsburgh also remained important to Bearden throughout his life. He spent part of his youth in Pittsburgh with his grandparents, graduating from Peabody High School in 1929. The people and places he encountered in the South, Pittsburgh and Harlem later became sources of memory and inspiration for his art.

Bearden studied at Lincoln University, Boston University and New York University, graduating from NYU in 1935. He also studied at the Art Students League in New York with German artist George Grosz. During the 1930s, Bearden worked as an artist and writer, creating political cartoons for publications including the Baltimore Afro-American, The Crisis and Opportunity. He worked for many years as a social worker while continuing to develop his art.

In the 1960s, Bearden began focusing on collage as his primary artistic medium. Using photographs, magazine and newspaper images, colored paper, paint and other materials, he created layered scenes drawn from Black life and memory. His work brought together images of the rural South, Harlem, jazz and the Caribbean, creating a visual language that reflected the connections among Black communities and cultures.

Bearden also helped create opportunities for other artists. In 1963, he was a founding member of Spiral, a collective of Black artists who met to discuss art and the civil rights movement. He also helped establish the Studio Museum in Harlem and Cinqué Gallery, which supported emerging artists.

Romare Bearden died in New York City on March 12, 1988. His art continues to connect memory, place and community, preserving experiences of Black life through a creative vision that has influenced generations of artists.



More info:
https://beardenfoundation.org/
https://www.studiomuseum.org/artists/romare-bearden
https://www.abhmuseum.org/galleries/

Images:
1) Portrait of Romare Bearden by Carl Van Vechten, April 15, 1944.
2) "The Family" by Romare Bearden. circa 1969

On August 31, 1920, thousands of Black people gathered in Harlem as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) c...
08/31/2026

On August 31, 1920, thousands of Black people gathered in Harlem as the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) concluded the First International Convention of the Negro Peoples of the World. Held at Liberty Hall in New York City from August 1 through August 31, the convention brought together about 2,000 delegates from 22 countries. Marcus Garvey presided over the gathering, which became one of the most significant international expressions of Black political organizing in the early 20th century.

The convention adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World, a 54-point document addressing the rights and aspirations of Black people across the globe. It protested racial discrimination and unequal treatment and called for equal rights, access to education, fair treatment under the law, freedom of movement, economic opportunity, and recognition of Black history. The declaration also expressed a vision of African people and people of African descent exercising greater control over their political, social, and economic futures.

The declaration reflected the worldwide reach of the UNIA during a period when racial discrimination and colonial rule shaped the lives of millions of Black people. Delegates came from the United States, the Caribbean, Central America, West Africa, Canada, and other parts of the African diaspora. The convention placed the experiences of Black people in different countries within a shared international conversation about freedom, equality, and self-determination.

The declaration itself proclaimed August 31 as an international holiday for Black people. One hundred years later, the United Nations General Assembly formally proclaimed August 31 as the International Day for People of African Descent. Adopted on December 16, 2020, Resolution 75/170 established the observance to promote greater recognition and respect for the diverse heritage, culture, and contributions of people of African descent to the development of societies.

International Day for People of African Descent connects a century of history. It recalls the Black organizers who gathered in New York in 1920 and recognizes the continuing contributions of people of African descent around the world. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on the enduring pursuit of human rights, dignity, equality, and self-determination.



More info:
https://buff.ly/fYNSu3e
https://buff.ly/NNYQA1P
https://buff.ly/LHA96V5

Image:
Artwork honoring International Day For People Of African Descent. ABHM

On August 30, 1982, President Ronald Reagan nominated Lieutenant General Roscoe Robinson Jr. for promotion to four-star ...
08/30/2026

On August 30, 1982, President Ronald Reagan nominated Lieutenant General Roscoe Robinson Jr. for promotion to four-star general. Robinson became the first Black four-star general in the history of the U.S. Army. His promotion accompanied his appointment as the United States representative to the NATO Military Committee, following more than three decades of military service that included combat in Korea and Vietnam and command at the Army’s highest levels.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1928, Robinson entered the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1947. He graduated in 1951, three years after President Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces. Robinson’s first assignment was with the 11th Airborne Division, where he served in a segregated unit at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

Robinson later served in Korea, where he commanded a rifle company in combat. In Vietnam, he commanded the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment. His leadership under fire earned him two Silver Stars, along with the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medals, and other honors. He later commanded the 2nd Brigade and then the 82nd Airborne Division, becoming the first Black officer to command the division.

His career continued through senior assignments in Europe, the Pacific, and Washington. In 1980, he became a lieutenant general and commander of U.S. Army Japan and IX Corps. In August 1982, he received his fourth star and assumed his NATO assignment.

Robinson retired from active duty in 1985 after 34 years of service. He later served on corporate boards and helped review the military records of Black Army units whose performance during the Korean War had been questioned. In 1993, West Point honored him with its Distinguished Graduate Award. Robinson died of leukemia on July 22, 1993, at age 64.

Robinson’s career reflected changing opportunities for Black officers in the U.S. Army while revealing barriers that remained during his lifetime. His leadership in combat, command, and international affairs established a lasting legacy. His achievement as the Army’s first Black four-star general opened another chapter in the long history of Black military service in the United States.



More info:
https://armyhistory.org/soldier-general-roscoe-robinson-jr/
https://www.spia.pitt.edu/news/us-army-japan-dedicated-roscoe-robinson
https://www.abhmuseum.org/galleries/

Image:
1) Official military portrait of General Roscoe Robinson Jr. May 18, 1984. By Robert D. Ward. National Archives
2) Robinson graduated with West Point’s Class of 1951. U.S. Military Academy Archives and Special Collections

Before Emmett Till became a name known around the world, he was a fourteen-year-old Chicago boy known to his family and ...
08/28/2026

Before Emmett Till became a name known around the world, he was a fourteen-year-old Chicago boy known to his family and friends as “Bobo.” Born July 25, 1941, Emmett grew up in Argo-Summit, Illinois, and later on Chicago’s South Side. He was raised by his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, and remained close to his extended family.

Emmett was known as a fun-loving jokester with a lively personality. He contracted polio as a child, leaving him with a stutter and weak ankles, yet his illness did not diminish his enthusiasm for life. He helped his working mother around their home, taking on chores such as cleaning, laundry and cooking. He attended school, spent time with friends and relatives, and enjoyed the ordinary experiences of being a young teenager.

In the summer of 1955, Emmett wanted to visit relatives in Mississippi. His mother was reluctant to let him go. She knew the racial rules of the Jim Crow South were very different from life in Chicago and warned him to be especially careful. Emmett traveled south with his great-uncle Moses Wright and cousin Wheeler Parker Jr., arriving in Mississippi on August 21.

On August 24, Emmett and his cousins stopped at Bryant’s Grocery and Meat Market in Money, Mississippi. Carolyn Bryant, the white woman working there, later accused Emmett of inappropriate behavior. Accounts of the encounter differ. Four days later, Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam abducted Emmett from his great-uncle’s home. He was tortured and murdered. His body was recovered from the Tallahatchie River on August 31.

Mamie Till-Mobley insisted that her son’s body be returned to Chicago and that his funeral be held with an open casket. Thousands of people came to Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ to see Emmett and mourn his death. Photographs published by Jet magazine exposed the brutality inflicted upon him to a national audience.

Bryant and Milam were acquitted by an all-white jury. They later admitted to killing Emmett in a magazine interview, yet faced no criminal punishment.

Emmett Till lived fourteen years before violence ended his life. Remembering him means remembering the boy he was, the family who loved him, and the future he should have had. His story also reminds us why remembrance matters.



More info:
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/emmett-tills-death-inspired-movement
https://www.loc.gov/collections/civil-rights-history-project/articles-and-essays/murder-of-emmett-till/
https://www.abhmuseum.org/emmett-till/

Image:
1) 13 year-old Emmett Till, Christmas Day, 1954. National Museum of African American History and Culture.

On August 27, 1867, John Sella Martin stood before an international audience in Paris and spoke about the struggle for f...
08/27/2026

On August 27, 1867, John Sella Martin stood before an international audience in Paris and spoke about the struggle for freedom after the abolition of slavery in the United States. His address at the Paris Anti-Slavery Conference reflected a life shaped by enslavement, self-emancipation, and years of antislavery activism.

Martin was born enslaved in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1832. At age six, he was taken with his mother and sister to Columbus, Georgia, where they were sold and separated. As a young man, Martin escaped slavery using forged freedom papers. He reached Chicago in January 1856 and soon began speaking publicly against slavery.

Martin became a Baptist minister and gained a reputation as a powerful orator. Years of public speaking gave Martin a respected platform from which to address European audiences about racial freedom and equality directly. He traveled repeatedly to Britain during the Civil War era to speak against slavery and support the Union cause.

By 1867, slavery had been abolished in the United States, yet Martin understood that emancipation had not ended racial discrimination. In Paris, he addressed the continuing struggle faced by Black people in the United States. He challenged European audiences to recognize the difference between legal freedom and genuine equality.

Martin spoke from personal experience. He explained how racial prejudice had limited relationships between Black and white Americans and allowed false ideas about Black people to persist. He argued that freedom required changes in attitudes as well as laws.

Martin represented the American Missionary Association, which supported education and religious work among formerly enslaved people.

Martin continued his work after returning to the United States. He became a pastor in Washington, D.C., worked in education in the South, wrote for newspapers, and entered Louisiana politics. In 1872, he was elected to the Louisiana state legislature, although a disputed election prevented him from taking his seat.

John Sella Martin died in New Orleans in 1876 at age 43. His life connected the struggle against slavery with the fight for equality after emancipation. His address carried the demands of Black Americans into a global discussion of freedom.



More info:
https://www.candgnews.com/articles/features-news/exploring-the-life-and-legacy-of-john-sella-martin/
https://blackpast.org/global-african-history/1867-john-stella-martin-speech-paris-antislavery-conference/
https://www.abhmuseum.org/galleries/

Image:
1) John Sella Martin in 1862. Library of Congress

On August 26, 1918, Katherine G. Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Her ability with numbers beca...
08/26/2026

On August 26, 1918, Katherine G. Johnson was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Her ability with numbers became clear at an early age. By age 13, she was attending high school on the campus of West Virginia State College. She entered the college at 18, earning a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and French in 1937.

Johnson began her career as a teacher before joining the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the agency that preceded NASA. In 1953, she was hired as a research mathematician at NACA’s Langley laboratory in Virginia. She worked in the West Area Computing section, where Black women mathematicians performed calculations for the nation’s developing space program.

Johnson’s work soon became central to spaceflight. She calculated the trajectory for Alan Shepard’s 1961 Freedom 7 mission, which made him the first American to travel into space. In 1962, she verified the calculations produced by electronic computers for John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission, the first American orbital spaceflight. Glenn reportedly wanted Johnson to check the computer’s numbers before he trusted them for his flight.

Johnson continued her work on NASA’s space program, including calculations related to Project Apollo. Her contributions included work on the trajectory for Apollo 11, which carried astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the Moon in 1969. She later worked on the Space Shuttle Program before retiring from NASA in 1986.

For much of her career, Johnson worked during an era when racial segregation and gender barriers restricted opportunities for Black women in science and mathematics. Her skill, persistence and leadership helped open doors for others pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Johnson’s accomplishments received national recognition. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. In 2019, she received the Congressional Gold Medal.

Her story reached a much wider audience through Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 nonfiction book Hidden Figures and the film adaptation released that same year. Katherine Johnson died on February 24, 2020, at age 101. Her life remains a powerful part of the history of Black achievement in American science and space exploration.



More info:
https://buff.ly/PQyYHzv
https://buff.ly/fiOink5
https://buff.ly/njvd9yk

Image:
Katherine Goble Johsnson at her desk on September 8, 1966. By Bob Nye. NASA

On August 25, 1967, the FBI expanded its Counterintelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO, to target organizations and l...
08/25/2026

On August 25, 1967, the FBI expanded its Counterintelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO, to target organizations and leaders it classified as “Black Nationalist—Hate Groups.” Its stated purpose was to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” their activities, leaders, members, and supporters.

The directive went to 23 FBI field offices and identified six organizations for intensified attention: the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), Deacons for Defense and Justice, Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and Nation of Islam. It also named Stokely Carmichael, H. “Rap” Brown, Elijah Muhammad, and Maxwell Stanford as individuals requiring particular attention.

Field offices were instructed to exploit conflicts within and between organizations, work with news media to disrupt or discredit them, and gather information against members and leaders. The targets represented a range of political views and strategies. SCLC’s inclusion demonstrated the breadth of the Bureau’s classification.

COINTELPRO expanded further in March 1968, when the FBI extended the Black Nationalist program to 44 field offices. A March 4 memorandum also specifically named Martin Luther King Jr. as a target. The Bureau sought to prevent a leader from uniting and inspiring the Black nationalist movement. King had already been under FBI surveillance, and the Bureau sought to discredit him.

The Black Panther Party became a prominent target. FBI operations included surveillance, informants, efforts to create divisions within the organization, and attempts to discredit its leaders and supporters.

COINTELPRO was formally ended in April 1971. Its existence became public after activists broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, in March 1971 and removed classified documents that were later provided to journalists. The disclosures helped lead to congressional investigations.

The Senate Church Committee investigated COINTELPRO in 1975 and 1976. Its findings documented covert operations against political and civil rights organizations and raised serious concerns about government power, political dissent, privacy, and constitutional rights.

The August 25 directive remains a significant record of federal efforts to monitor and disrupt Black political organizing during a pivotal period.



Read the archive:
https://buff.ly/3T2akZU
https://buff.ly/4dS35LQ
More info:
https://buff.ly/4fVVi1r

1) The Conspiracy to Destroy The BPP - COINTELPRO, The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service, Mar 24, 1980.
2)Illustration of the impact of COINTELPRO by Emory Douglas, 1976
3) Photo-copy of the Aug 25, 1967 FBI letter to all offices.

On August 24, 1950, President Harry S. Truman nominated Chicago attorney Edith Spurlock Sampson as an alternate U.S. rep...
08/24/2026

On August 24, 1950, President Harry S. Truman nominated Chicago attorney Edith Spurlock Sampson as an alternate U.S. representative to the Fifth Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Sampson became the first Black American woman to serve as an official U.S. representative to the United Nations.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1901, Sampson left school at age 14 because of her family’s financial difficulties. She later returned to school and graduated from Peabody High School. While studying social work in New York, she earned the highest grade in a criminology course. Her instructor, George Kirchwey, encouraged her to pursue a career in law.

Sampson moved to Chicago and worked as a social worker while attending John Marshall Law School at night. She graduated in 1925 near the top of her class. She earned a Master of Laws degree from Loyola University in 1927 and established a legal practice serving Chicago’s Black community. She later worked for the Juvenile Court of Cook County and, in 1947, became an assistant state’s attorney. She was also among the first Black women admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Sampson’s public work expanded beyond the courtroom. In 1949, she joined the World Town Hall Seminar, traveling internationally to participate in discussions about world affairs and democracy. Her international experience brought her to the attention of the Truman administration.

At the United Nations, Sampson served on the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee. She advocated continued international support for social welfare programs and addressed issues involving prisoners of war and displaced children. She was reappointed as an alternate U.S. representative in 1952 and continued serving through 1953.

Sampson’s work at the United Nations became part of a broader career in international public service. She later served on the U.S. Commission for UNESCO and became the first Black American representative to NATO in 1961 and 1962. In 1962, she was elected a judge of the Chicago Municipal Court, becoming the first Black woman elected to a judgeship in Illinois. She later served on the Cook County Circuit Court until her retirement in 1978.

Edith S. Sampson died in Chicago on October 8, 1979. Her path to the United Nations had begun decades earlier, when financial difficulties forced her to leave school at 14. She returned to her education, built a legal career, entered public service and ultimately represented the United States on the world stage.



More info:
https://buff.ly/E6NpPww
https://buff.ly/O7BpRa0
https://buff.ly/G8XBs5B

Image:
Portrait of Edith Sampson. 1949. By Carl Van Vechten. Library of Congress.

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