In honor of Black History Month, we have compiled a list of places you can visit right here in Houston with family and friends to learn more and celebrate Black history. These places are open year-round and we have pulled information from each of the organization’s websites for your convenience.
The African American Library at the Gregory School
The African American Library at the Gregory School is the first library of its kind in Houston and one of the few African American libraries in the country.
The Gregory School serves as a resource to preserve, promote and celebrate the rich history and culture of African Americans in Houston, the surrounding region and the African Diaspora.
Their historic building is housed in the Edgar M. Gregory School built in 1926, which served as the first public school for African Americans in Houston.
Houston, TX 77019
To learn more, click here to visit their website.
Buffalo Soldiers National Museum
The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is the only museum dedicated primarily to preserving the legacy and honor of the African American soldier in defense of the United States of America from the Revolutionary War to present. These fighting men represented the first Black professional soldiers in a peacetime army. The recruits came from varied backgrounds including former slaves and veterans from service in the Civil War.
To learn more, click here to visit their website.
Houston Museum of African American Culture
The mission of HMAAC is to collect, conserve, explore, interpret, and exhibit the material and intellectual culture of Africans and African Americans in Houston, the state of Texas, the southwest and the African Diaspora for current and future generations. In fulfilling its mission, HMAAC seeks to invite and engage visitors of every race and background and to inspire children of all ages through discovery-driven learning. HMAAC is to be a museum for all people.
The Houston Museum of African American Culture have engaged their community, not simply in art and history, but with the topics of the time, allowing the young and young at heart to understand the African American contemporary experience and define their future as a community and as a nation.
To learn more, click here to visit their website.
1870 Yates House
The 1870 Reverend Jack Yates House was originally located at 1318 Andrews Street in Freedmen's Town. The simplified Greek Revival home was built by the Reverend John Henry “Jack” Yates, an emancipated slave who later served as the minister for Antioch Baptist Church and founder of Bethel Baptist Church. He also helped to organize the Houston Academy in 1894. Construction of this house a mere five years after Emancipation illustrates the indomitable spirit of a formerly enslaved population that was transitioning into a free society in Houston.
Donated by the Yates family to The Heritage Society, the house was moved to Sam Houston Park in 1994. It is furnished to represent the family's lifestyle in the late 19th century and includes some of the furniture that was in the house when the family still lived there.
To learn more, click here to visit their website.
We hope you will have the opportunity to visit one or all of these extraordinary places in Houston. Make sure to visit their websites to learn more about special exhibits, events and activities they have throughout the year.