The Museum of African American History is New England’s largest museum dedicated to preserving and interpreting the history of free and enslaved Black Americans. Its Boston campus sits on Beacon Hill and centers on two landmark buildings: the African Meeting House of 1806, the oldest surviving Black church building in the United States, and the adjacent Abiel Smith School of 1835, the country’s first public school built for Black children.
These sites anchor the Black Heritage Trail, which winds through Beacon Hill telling the story of a vibrant 19th-century Black community and the abolitionists who lived and organized here. Exhibits in the Abiel Smith School explore that history, and the African Meeting House, once a hub of antislavery activism where Frederick Douglass and others spoke, has been carefully restored. The museum offers a powerful complement to Boston’s better-known Revolutionary sites.
Good to know
- Home to the African Meeting House (1806), the oldest surviving Black church building in the U.S.
- The adjacent Abiel Smith School (1835) was the first public school built for Black children in the country
- The campus anchors the Beacon Hill Black Heritage Trail
- Admission and hours vary and the museum also has a Nantucket campus; check the official site before visiting
Getting there
- Address: 46 Joy Street, Beacon Hill, Boston, MA 02114
- Neighborhood: Beacon Hill
- Nearest T: Park Street (Red and Green Lines); Bowdoin (Blue Line, limited weekday hours) and Charles/MGH (Red Line) are also nearby