Black Museums in North Carolina

Museum lovers, below is a list of some of the Black museums in North Carolina that preserve and present the history, culture, and voices of the Black community. Check them out, follow them on social media, plan visits once they reopen after COVID-19, and consider donating to support their work. I know I will be making plans to visit several of these as soon as possible.

1. Freeman Round House Museum – Wilson, NC

Starting in my city with the Freeman Round House Museum. This museum is small but important. Oliver Nestus Freeman was a craftsman and master mason who worked with stone in unique and innovative ways. The Museum consists of a round house he built as well as a visitors center with exhibits that tell the history of East Wilson, a historically Black community in the city of Wilson.

Website: http://www.theroundhousemuseum.com

Follow: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/FreemanRoundHouse/ Twitter: @RoundMuseum

2. Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum State Historic Site – Gibsonville, NC

Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown was an African American woman who founded the Palmer Memorial Institute in 1902 to provide quality education to Black students. The site was the first NC State Historic Site to honor African American heritage. As a State site it is free to visit.

Website: https://historicsites.nc.gov/charlotte-hawkins-brown-museum

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharlotteHawkinsBrownMuseum/ Instagram: @chbmuseum Twitter: @CHBMuseum

3. International Civil Rights Center & Museum – Greensboro, NC

Located on the site of the Greensboro Woolworth’s, where one of the most well-known non-violent sit-in protests took place at the lunch counter, the museum shares the history of the Civil Rights Movement.

Website: https://www.sitinmovement.org/pctemp/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sitinmuseum/

Instagram: @sitinmuseum Twitter: @sitinmuseum

4. Pope House Museum – Raleigh, NC

The former home of Dr. M.T. Pope, a doctor who attended Shaw University’s Leonard Medical Center and a prominent African American citizen of Raleigh. The Pope House offers a glimpse into the life of Dr. Manassa Thomas Pope, who was also the only African-American man to run for mayor of a Southern capital in the midst of the Jim Crow Era.

Website: https://raleighnc.gov/places/pope-house-museum

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PopeHouseMuseum/

Instagram: @cormuseumfriends Twitter: @PopeHouse1901

5. Delta Arts Center – Winston-Salem, NC

The Delta Arts Center is an art gallery and cultural center that emphasizes the contributions of African Americans to the arts. It is located in the heart of the historically African American community in East Winston-Salem.

Website: http://deltaartscenter.org/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeltaArtsCenter/

Instagram: @deltaartscenter Twitter: @deltaartscenter

6. Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts & Culture – Charlotte, NC

The Harvey B. Gantt Center, named for Charlotte’s first Black mayor who was also the first Black student admitted to Clemson University, celebrates the contributions of Africans and African-Americans to American history and culture with a focus on the arts: music, dance, theater, visual art, and film.

Website: https://www.ganttcenter.org/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hbganttcenter/

Instagram: @hbganttcenter Twitter: @HBGanttCenter

7. North Carolina Museum of African Americans’ History & Culture – Online

An online museum created to tell the stories and keep alive the history, memory, and legacy of Black North Carolinians.

Website/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IRememberOurHistory/

Instagram: @irememberourhistory

8. LATIBAH Collard Green Museum – Tours & Programs

The LATIBAH (Life and Times in Black American History) Collard Green Museum originated in Charlotte, NC. Currently without a physical location, the museum has some online resources and offers tours and outreach programs.

Website: http://www.latibahcgmuseum.org/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LATIBAH-Collard-Green-Museum-118334958884/

9. Hayti Heritage Center – Durham, NC

Twitter: @LATIBAH

The Hayti Heritage Center is a historic cultural center that preserves African and African American heritage and promotes greater cultural understanding and appreciation through arts education programming.

Website: https://hayti.org/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaytiHeritageCenter/

Instagram: @haytiheritagecenter Twitter: @HaytiHeritage

10. Washington Waterfront Underground Railroad Museum – Washington, NC

A National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom site, in Little Washington that interprets slavery and how enslaved persons made and carried out plans to escape.

Website: https://whda.org/underground-railroad-museum/

Follow: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/washingtonundergroundrailroad/

For more info on Black historical and cultural sites in North Carolina check out this resource put together by the NC African American Heritage Commission: https://aahc.nc.gov/places