Museum of African American
History/
African Meeting House
Located at Joy and Smith Court,
Beacon Hill
Phone: 617- 929-4523
Web site: www.afroammuseum.org
What's
New?
Africans are among America’s
oldest ancestors. The first ones arrived as slaves in Boston in
February 1638, only eight years after the city was founded. By
1705, there were 400 slaves in Boston and the nucleus of a free
black community formed in the North End. By 1790, after the
American Revolution, Massachusetts became the only state in the
Union to record no slaves.
The life and struggles of these
free blacks centered around The African Meeting House on Beacon
Hill. A National Historic Landmark, The Meeting House is the
oldest extant black church building in the United States built
by free African American artisans.
The Museum of African American
History (MAAH) oversees the Meeting House and the Abiel Smith
School in Boston, as well as The African Meeting House on Nantucket. Through its exhibits and the Black Heritage Trail,
the Museum places pre- and post-colonial African American
experience in an accurate social, cultural, and historical
context. MAAH’s resouces bring to life the remarkable stories
of the free blacks and white abolitionists who endured great
risks that remade the nation.
The Black Heritage Trail explores
the history of Boston’s 19th century African
American community. The 1.6 mile (2.5 km) walking tour wends its
way through the largest collection of historic sites in the
country evoking the life of a free pre-Civil War African
American community.
A self-guided walking tour map
and guide are available at the Museum. Guided walking tours are
offered daily from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day
weekend or, at other times, by special request.
Hours:
From Labor Day to Memorial Day
Monday-Friday 10 am-4 pm
Summer Months
Daily 10 am-4 pm
Closed: Thanksgiving, December
25, and January 1
Admission/fees:
No admission charge; donations
welcome
