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Upcoming Events
Celebrate Black History Month 365. Know the past, shape the future. See more events.
THIS IS OUR HOUSE: Opening Ceremony for Dance for Diaspora
Boston, MA
Join The Museum of African American History & The Haus of Glitter for _This Is Our Hou_se, a site-specific performance installation and community ritual activating the historic African Meeting House. This Is Our House is a kick-off activation for The Dance For The Diaspora Festival (D4D Boston) – a collaboration between MAAH, The Haus of Glitter & Multicultural Arts Center, which is hosting pop up workshops and community activations throughout New England until the culminating weekend festival July 11 & 12. Through movement, music, storytelling, fashion, installation, and collective gathering, this immersive experience honors the legacies of Black & Indigenous cultural leaders, freedom fighters, artists, organizers, and community visionaries whose work continues to shape our collective future.
Audiences are invited to witness and participate in an afternoon centered around beauty, wellness, cultural memory, intergenerational exchange, and collective care.
Guests are encouraged to arrive in attire inspired by cultural heritage, ancestral memory, and “Sunday Best.”
Boston Family Days: She Was There
Boston, MA
Experience a powerful musical tribute bringing together artists from Boston Lyric Opera and Castle of Our Skins. Through opera, spirituals, new works, and spoken testimony, this concert uplifts the lives of Black women whose leadership shaped American history—honoring both well-documented figures and those nearly lost to time.
Guests are invited to a pre-concert reception at 2:30 PM in the Susan Paul Room.
As Boston and the nation commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, She Was There asks:
Whose stories have we remembered? Whose have we overlooked? And how do we honor the women whose presence changed history?
This program is presented in partnership by Boston Lyric Opera, Castle of our Skins, Everyone250, MA250, Museum of African American History, Roxbury International Film Festival, and West End Museum.
Absalom Boston & Hannah Cook Statue Unveiling at Colored Cemetery
Nantucket, MA
Commemorate the unveiling of a new monument honoring Absalom Boston, a prominent 19th-century Black whaling captain, and Hannah Cook, a respected member of the community.
Celebrate their lasting contributions to Black maritime history and the development of free Black communities in New England. Stand together with us as we honor their legacies and carry their impact forward. This event is in partnership with the historic Colored Cemetery Commission.
MAAH in the News
Explore the Museum & Get Connected
Celebrate Black History Month 365. Know the past, shape the future.
Connect to inspiring, authentic representations of life in the 18th and 19th centuries — in a unique place where Black communities organized and advanced the cause of freedom.
Boston Location
The African Meeting House, a registered National Historic Landmark, and Abiel Smith School on Beacon Hill were built in the early 1800s and are two of the museum's most valuable assets. Located steps away from the Massachusetts State House.
Nantucket Location
Explore our Nantucket campus, which features two historic sites, the African Meeting House and the Florence Higginbotham House. These buildings were at the center of a thriving nineteenth-century African American community on the island.
We understand the importance of remembering our history.
Welcome to The Museum of African American History! We are New England’s largest museum dedicated to preserving, conserving and interpreting the contributions of African Americans. In Boston and Nantucket, the Museum has preserved two historic sites and two Black Heritage Trails® that tell the story of organized Black communities from the Colonial Period through the 19th century. Exhibits, programs, and education activities at the Museum showcase the powerful stories of Black families who worshipped, educated their children, debated the issues of the day, produced great art, organized politically and advanced the cause of freedom.
"In every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance."
Plan Your Visit
1
Reserve Your Ticket
Choose a date, reserve your ticket, and learn something new every time you visit.
2
Experience the Museum (Virtually)
Explore exhibits, sign-up for a customized talk or schedule a tour, and discover the stories of courageous Americans on a guided walking tour of the Museum’s Black Heritage Trails®.
3
Leave Inspired & Empowered
Continue the conversation and share the authentic stories of New Englanders of African descent, and those who found common cause with them, in their quest for freedom and justice.
"For over 200 years, the African Meeting House has served as one of the nation’s most important and influential centers of cultural and political discourse around racial equality. Today, the Museum of African American History invokes this important history—in the very place it happened—to open new conversations around racial equity... and expand its narrative of Black and other social justice activists. … and underscore how their courage, as they united across race and class in the struggle for human rights, ushered in modern democracy."
Become a Member Today
Your vital contribution supports the Museum's education programs, research and exhibitions, and historic preservation of some of the nation's most important National Historic Landmarks throughout the year. Join us as we continue to make American history.