National Afro-American Museum & Cultural Center
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Location: 1350 Brush Row Road, 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 the art on display in the “African Art: Form, Function, and Fraught Histories” exhibition, which explores “the relationship between the aesthetic and cultural functions of African art objects and the historical context of their global influence,” according to an exhibition description.
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. 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.
African American Cultural Garden
Location: 890 Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Cleveland
Hours: Open 24/7
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. 14 from 11 a.m. to noon to 2 p.m.
Admission: $25 per adult and $20 per adult member
The Ohio History Center in Columbus will be celebrating an old African American Valentine’s Day tradition on Saturday, Feb. 14. 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 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
Location: Bishop Reverdy C. Ransom Memorial Library on the campus of Payne Theological Seminary; 1230 Wilberforce-Clifton Road, Wilberforce
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Admission: Free
During a portion of the 19th century, Buffalo Soldiers, or 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. Visitors can tour the former home of Charles Young, a local Buffalo Soldier, and view the accompanying exhibits that commemorate his life.
Harriet Beecher Stowe House
Location: 2950 Gilbert Ave., Cincinnati
Hours: Guided tours available Thursday through Sunday
Admission: $9 per adult; $8 per senior and college student; $6 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.
Paul Laurence Dunbar House
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Credit: Tom Gilliam
Location: 219 N. Paul Laurence Dunbar St., Dayton
Hours: The house is currently closed while undergoing renovations; check the National Park Service’s website for updates
Admission: Free
Visitors can tour the former home of Dayton’s own literary genius, poet and novelist Paul Laurence Dunbar. To date, Dunbar is still considered to be one of the most influential Black poets of all time.
Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame
Location: 190 W Mehring Way, Cincinnati
Hours: Monday through Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Admission: Free
This interactive musical experience celebrates the contributions by Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio musicians, including James Brown (who recorded at Cincinnati’s famed King Records), The Isley Brothers and Bootsy Collins. Similar to other walks of fame, visitors can browse a collection of stars dedicated to each musical act and plaques that detail their important contributions to music. New musicians are inducted into the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame each year.
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