Know Your History

Come aboard Amtrak and take a journey to your past. With over 500 Amtrak destinations, there are plenty of places to go and things to see to explore African-American history. Allow us to suggest a few:







New York

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
The largest library of African American and African Caribbean culture and history. Notable collections of Harlem Renaissance artists can be seen at every turn within the center.

Chicago

A Philip Randolph / Pullman Porter Museum
Museum and gallery featuring African American Railroad employee photographic exhibits and artifacts.

Los Angeles

Western States Black Research Center
A must-visit for every scholar, this is the largest black historical artifact collection on the west coast, including books, films and records.

Miami

Lyric Theater

A representation of the apex of African American entertainment and social life and a great place for poetry slams.

Old Dillard Museum
An informative regional historical museum with exhibits that cover the arrival of people of African decent to the region up to the Civil Rights Movement.

Philadelphia

African American Museum of Philadelphia
Founded 1976, this museum has one the finest collections covering African American life in Philadelphia from 1940s-60s.

Baltimore

National Juneteenth Museum

Offers tours of Underground Railroad sites, Civil Rights tours and presents historical reenactments.

Great Blacks in Wax Museum

First wax museum of African American history; features more than 100 handcrafted, spectacular historic figures.

Memphis

Beale Street

The historically Black district of Memphis is now home to the largest number of nightclubs and restaurants in the city.

Civil Rights Museum

Housed in the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther king was assassinated, this museum helps visitors better understand the history and lessons of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Atlanta

Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-violent Social Change

A National Historic Landmark and the most photographed site in Atlanta. You will be inspired seeing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King Dual Tomb set amidst a reflecting pool. The complex includes Freedom Hall, which contains over 2 million documents and personal artifacts of the King Family.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birth Home
A National Historic Landmark and the home where Martin Luther King, Jr. was born and spent the first 12 years of his life.

Washington D.C.

The White House
Home to America’s first African American President, Barack Obama, the White House is the nation's most famous address and home to every president of the United States since John Adams, was originally constructed 1792-1800.

Public tours Tuesday through Saturday beginning at 10:00 a.m.

The Anacostia Community Museum

Established in 1967, The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum served first as a Smithsonian outreach museum situated in one of the District of Columbia’s largely African American neighborhoods and later evolved into a museum documenting, preserving and interpreting African American history from local and community history perspectives.

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