National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center
Credit: LISA POWELL
Credit: LISA POWELL
Location: 1350 Brush Row Rd., Wilberforce
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $6 per adult; $5 per senior; $3 for guests between the ages of six and 17; free for children five years old and younger, Ohio History Connection Members and Central State University or Wilberforce University students.
The National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center works to preserve the history and culture of African Americans through various exhibits and collections.
Currently, visitors can browse through the “Art of Soul! Juried Art Show,” which features art pieces submitted from artists all over the country who responded to the theme of “Black Future.” Also on exhibition is “Rhythm of Revolution — The Transformative Power of Black Art 1619 to the Present,” showcasing the “visual flow of artistic, cultural, social, and political change in America from 1619 to the present day.”
National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
Location: 50 E. Freedom Way, Cincinnati
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: $16.50 per adult; $11.50 per child between 3-12 years old; and $14 per senior
Visitors to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center will have a better idea of what the Underground Railroad and slavery were like in the area during the 19th century and beyond. Permanent exhibits at the museum will give visitors a glimpse into modern-day slavery, implicit bias, an old slave pen, and an immersive experience that will allow visitors a chance to see what it was like to escape through the Underground Railroad.
For a short time, special exhibits “Discover the Transatlantic Slave Trade to the 13th Amendment,” “Luba Lukova: Designing Justice,” and “Macon Bolling Allen: The First African American Lawyer in the United States” will also be on display.
Expressions of Black Culture Public Art Passport
Location: Multiple locations throughout the Cleveland area
Looking for a free, interactive way to view art and other installations created by Black artists? You’re in luck. The city of Cleveland is offering visitors a chance to explore the most famous murals and other public works of art created by Black artists through the Expressions of Black Culture Public Art Passport. To participate, you’ll simply need to sign up to receive texts and emails that will contain the 31 works of art around the city created by local and national artists.
As an added incentive, those who check in at least 25 of these sites will be entered into a quarterly drawing to win a $200 gift basket filled with goods from minority-owned businesses in the area.
African American Cultural Garden
Location: 890 Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Cleveland
Hours: Open 24 hours per day; seven days a week
Admission: Free
Located among the many cultural gardens in downtown Cleveland is the African American Cultural Garden. The garden, created to promote the education and interest in African American culture and heritage, consists of three pavilions that represent the past, present and future of African Americans.
The sprawling African American Cultural Garden consists of black granite sculptural walls, a “Door of No Return” made of sandstone that represents an “unknown transition,” the “Infinity Fountain” that represents the illusion of tranquility of the Atlantic Ocean and other powerful symbols.
The Tea Room
Location: Ohio History Center, 800 E. 17th Ave., Columbus
When: Saturday, Feb. 18 from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Admission: Tickets will be available soon. Check HERE for updates
The Ohio History Center in Columbus will be celebrating an old African American Valentine’s Day tradition on Saturday, Feb. 18. The exhibit, called the Tea Room, is a contemporary version of an older African American Tea Ceremony that began in the mid-19th century. Each year, on Feb. 15, enslaved people were given the leftover tea, food and china from Valentine’s Day celebrations that took place the day prior. This post-Valentine’s Day celebration of enslaved people eventually became grew large enough to take place at churches, and a century later, at Black-owned tea houses.
The Ohio History Center is celebrating this tradition as a way for participants to network and learn more about the achievements of African Americans in Ohio and beyond.
Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument
Credit: Chris Stewart
Credit: Chris Stewart
Location: Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom Memorial Library on the campus of Payne Theological Seminary; 1230 Wilberforce-Clifton Rd., Wilberforce
Hours: Open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guided house tours are no longer available.
Admission: Free
During a portion of the 19th century, Buffalo Soldiers, which consisted of multiple regiments of African American men, worked to protect settlers from Native American attacks and other illegal activities in the Plains and across the Southwest.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Location: 2950 Gilbert Ave., Cincinnati
Hours: Feb 2023 Guided Tour Hours: Thurs-Sat: 10am-4pm & Sun: 12pm-4pm Mar-Nov 2023: Tours by appointment subject to availability due to ongoing restoration work. Weekly details here.
Admission: $6 per adult; $5 per senior and student; $3 per child between 6-17 years old; and free for children five years of age and younger, members of the Friends of the Harriet Beecher Stowe House and Ohio History Connection.
Participate in an educational tour, lecture or discussion at the former home of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” Her book is considered to be one of the greatest literary contributions to the Civil War and to the anti-slavery movement at the time of its publication in 1852.
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