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Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture
The Gantt Center is Charlotte’s destination for African American art, history and culture. Inside its four-story building, which references quilt designs from the Underground Railroad era and woven textile patterns from West Africa, the center continues a four-decades-long celebration of the cultural contributions of Africans and African Americans and serves as an epicenter for music, dance, theater, visual art, film, arts education programs, literature and community outreach. Named for Charlotte’s first African American mayor, the center hosts both permanent and temporary exhibits.
African American Heritage Walking Tour
African American history shows multiple dimensions in New Bern, where free Blacks exerted cultural, economic and political influence — and also owned slaves. This walking tour takes in historical homes, churches and businesses with rich legacies from Colonial times to the modern era with sites of local sit-ins inspired by the Greensboro Woolworth sit-ins.
Nina Simone Plaza
The Eunice Waymon — Nina Simone Memorial Project honors the remarkable life and legacy of a native daughter who achieved international recognition for her unique talent and her formidable contribution to the musical arts. The Nina Simone Plaza in downtown Tryon acknowledges the life of this remarkable woman with a bronze sculpture by Zenos Frudakis. On a related note, High Point honors former resident John Coltrane with a statue on the corner of Commerce Avenue and Hamilton Street.
The International Civil Rights Center & Museum
The International Civil Rights Center & Museum is located in the heart of downtown Greensboro in the former F.W. Woolworth retail store — the site where, in 1960, four Black freshmen from NC A&T sat down at the “whites only” lunch counter and challenged the laws of segregation. Their courageous actions reignited the quest for all Americans to stand up for freedom, justice and equality. Recently recognized as a National Historic Landmark, ICRCM brings history to life with permanent installation, exhibits, photography, artifacts, video re-enactments and interactive galleries.
Visit markers on the NC Civil Rights Trail
Historic Magnolia House
The Historic Magnolia House in Greensboro was originally a motel listed in The Negro Travelers’ Green Book as a safe place to stay in Jim Crow-era North Carolina. Guests in its heyday included Tina Turner, Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin and Ray Charles. You can now book a getaway for yourself in the renovated 5,000-square-foot Italianate Victorian home, which reopened as a bed and breakfast in 2022.
Ocean City Jazz Festival
The Ocean City community was founded in 1949 as the only place African Americans could buy coastal property in North Carolina. Today it’s known for the ever-growing Ocean City Jazz Festival on North Topsail Beach, scheduled each Fourth of July weekend. Check the calendar for a 2-mile Learn and Hike tour during the festival that illuminates the history underlying the music and sandscape.
Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station
The Pea Island Life-Saving Station, the only U.S. Life-Saving Service station with a crew of African Americans, performed many heroics. Their 1896 rescue of all nine passengers on the three-masted schooner E.S. Newman during a hurricane earned them a posthumous Gold Lifesaving Medal in 1996. Their efforts are honored at the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, one of the most complete, historic stations of its kind in the United States. It's open seasonally from April through November.
Harriet Jacobs Trail
Harriet Jacobs, born in Edenton, escaped slavery and wrote one of the first narratives about the struggle for freedom by female slaves in the plantation South. Today, you can follow a self-guided tour of Edenton sites that relate to Jacobs’ life, or participate in guided tours offered periodically throughout the year.
St. Philips Moravian Church
Built in 1861, St. Philips Moravian Church is the oldest standing African American church in our state. It stands adjacent to the newly reconstructed 1823 log church with exhibitions conveying the African American experience in the Moravian community. Today, the church is part of Old Salem.
Beyond the Guidebook: Old Salem Museum and GardensYMI Cultural Center
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the YMI Cultural Center has served Asheville’s minority residents since 1893, when it was established as the Young Men’s Institute. The center houses numerous exhibits, many dealing with the history of African Americans in western North Carolina, and sponsors such cultural events as Asheville’s Goombay Festival.