Picturing Black History

Photographs and stories that changed the world

A collaboration of     and    

Slavery, Reconstruction and Jim Crow

Photograph of Class SE 43 K newly commissioned pilots (Tuskegee Airmen) at Tuskegee Army Flying School, in bomber jackets with a fighter airplane, Tuskegee, Alabama, 1942.

Outside the Frame

Without images of African Americans, depictions of important military moments are incomplete.

African-American children in a segregated swimming pool at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland, 1955.

Members Only

With integration a legal right, swimming pools became a new battleground in the segregation fight.

MORNING MUSTERING OF THE 'CONTRABAND' AT FORTRESS MONROE, ON THEIR WAY TO THEIR DAY'S WORK, UNDER THE PAY AND DIRECTION OF THE U.S

Journey to Freedom

Enslaved refugees sought freedom in Union contraband camps during the American Civil War.