This presentation uses music to explore African American history, from the African beats to the jazz of the Harlem Renaissance to the popular music of the Civil Rights movement. The influences of traditional African music can be seen in the spirituals sung by African Americans while they worked as slaves, elements of spirituals can be […]
In 1839 the first territorial government of Iowa past a series of laws that denied black residents citizenship rights like the right to vote, testify in court, act as jurors, or participate in the state militia. In addition to these restrictions, the legislature passed “An Act to Regulate Blacks and Mulattoes.” The act was intended […]
An African American woman’s Sunday hat is her crowning glory—it announces to the world that here is a beautiful, sophisticated, confident person. But Sunday is just one day of the week, and her Sunday hat is just one of the many “hats” she wears. It takes an extraordinary woman to wear all of these hats—professional, […]
Iowa’s athletes have long impacted their teams, communities, and the sports they played, but African Americans did so while facing off against more than just the opposing team. They fought for the right to equal treatment on and off the field. Highlighting people such as Iowan and Olympian Thomas Hill, Drake University athlete Johnny Bright […]
“Searching for Freedom: African American Migration in Iowa, 1830-1900” will explore the history of black movement to and around Iowa during the 1800s, beginning with the arrival of the first African Americans in the 1830s and ending with the creation of one of Iowa’s only black majority communities at the turn of the century. We will […]
Please note that this event has been canceled. Any plans to reschedule will be announced on our website and social media. This Humanities Iowa presentation will connect the the economic, social, and political issues explored in Driven By Hope to the lives of modern migrants to Iowa. Professor Stella Burch Elias of the University of […]
This year marks the 154th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and the complete emancipation of U.S. slaves. At emancipation, black men in American had little human capital or personal property, and almost all lived in the relatively poor, agrarian, former states of the Confederacy. And although their position is much improved relative […]
Based off the AAMI’s 2012 temporary exhibit of the same name, “The Only One” explores the experiences of Iowans who were the only African American on a sports team, in a classroom, at work, and in other situations. Learn about Alexander Clark, who integrated Iowa schools in 1868 when his daughter Susan enrolled in Muscatine […]
Discover the proud history of African American service people in the United States military from the Revolutionary War to the present. Topics include African American Iowans in the Civil War, the Buffalo Soldiers, the Tuskegee Airmen of World War II, desegregation of the armed forces, and many more. About the Series: Join us at the […]
Visit Buxton, a bustling mining town at the turn of the last century. This important place in Iowa’s history was referred to as a “utopia” by the majority of the town’s residents, African Americans who were welcomed with little racism and discrimination. Step into the YMCAs, visit the elementary schools, and meet some of Buxton’s […]
