Explore Black History in Philadelphia
Posted by Visit Philadelphia on February 10, 2026
Philadelphia history is Black history.
The region serves as a home base for the founding church of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination (Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church), the country’s first major museum devoted to Black American history (African American Museum in Philadelphia) and many former stops along the Underground Railroad.
Historic sites like Cliveden and Stenton, as well as dedicated institutions like The Colored Girls Museum, Aces Veterans Museum and Lest We Forget Museum of Slavery, tell of the successes, struggles and contributions of African Americans through the centuries.
And numerous monuments to Black figures dot Philadelphia, including the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors, the Negro Leagues Memorial and the city’s first public statue representing an African American, the Octavius V. Catto Memorial, which depicts the bravery of the 19th-century Civil Rights advocate.
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