Raleigh, NC

Peace College Main Building
Although it was a Presbyterian school in earlier days, this Greek Revival building served as the Freedmen’s Bureau headquarters for the state in 1865-1872; the bureau helped newly freed African Americans get jobs, education and housing opportunities; later became a female seminary; on the National Register of Historic Places Peace & Wilmington; 15 East Peace Street; 919-508-2000; http://www.peace.edu

Berry O'Kelly School
Located on a 69-acre Reconstruction-era village started by former slave Jesse Mason in 1869; school was founded by Berry O'Kelly, a 19th century black commissioned merchant, civic leader and philanthropist in 1910; the 1926 Agriculture Building survives in the school complex; 514 Method Road

Chavis Park and Carousel
Named for early 19th century free Negro preacher and teacher of both races, John Chavis (1763-1838); this 37-acre park opened as a recreational spot for Raleigh's black community during segregation; dedicated in 1938 the original carousel still delivers inexpensive rides on weekends in the summer; 720 Chavis Way; 919-831-6989

Estey Hall
Built in 1873, it is the first building constructed for the higher education of black women in the United States and the oldest surviving building on Shaw University campus; this seminary for Negro girls at Southeast Raleigh's "Shaw Collegiate Institute" remained as a women's dorm until 1968; it was abandoned in 1970 before recent refurbishing effort; on the National Register of Historic Places; 118 East South Street; 919-546-8200

Leonard Medical Building
Located on the Shaw University campus, Leonard Medical School was the first four-year medical school in North Carolina. Founded in 1881 and named for Judson Wade Leonard, brother-in-law to Shaw's founder Dr. Henry Martin Tupper, the medical school closed in 1918; under renovation; South Wilmington Street; 919-546-8200

Masonic Temple Building
Built in 1907, the Masonic Temple served as a leading office building for black professionals for more than a half-century; proximity to other black institutions, businesses and neighborhoods helped create a close-knit community in Southeast Raleigh; on the National Register of Historic Places; corner of Blount and East Cabarrus Streets; 919-834-5191

Mount Hope Cemetery
Cemetery established by black citizens shortly after the Civil War in 1872. It is Raleigh's largest cemetery for African Americans and one of the oldest in the city encompassing about 60 acres; among the buried are Rt. Rev. Henry Beard Delany (1858-1928), Albert W. Pegues (1859-1923), Calvin E. Lightner (1876-1960), William Henry Fuller (1877-1961), Bessie Delany (1891-1995) and Sadie Delany (1889-1999); Old Fayetteville Street and Prospect Ave

Murphey School
Located at the end of Oakwood Historic District, this three-story classically inspired brick building is the oldest continuously occupied education site in Raleigh since 1916; Murphey School became the site of the first public school integration in Raleigh on 6 Sep 1960 when William Campbell (mayor of Atlanta) began the second grade here; site is newly renovated as elderly apartments; 443 North Person Street; 919-831-1072

Rogers-Bagley-Daniels-Pegues House
One of the few surviving pre-Civil War houses in Raleigh, the two-story Greek Revival frame building was built in 1855 and was home to three prominent owners before being sold in 1919 to its first African American occupant; Albert W. Pegues was dean of theology at Shaw University; listed on the National Register of Historic Places, now owned by Shaw University and being renovated as an entertainment facility; 125 East South Street; 919-546-8200

St. Agnes Hospital
Founded by Sarah Hunter, wife of Saint Augustine's fourth principal, the original 1895 building housed the only nurse teaching hospital for blacks between Atlanta and Washington, D.C., but was severely damaged by fire; students quarried stone and started the current building in 1905 under the direction of the Rev. Henry Beard Delany; it became a 75-bed center that opened in 1908; after a $5 million renovation it will next become an administrative center for the college; 1315 Oakwood Ave; 919-516-4000

St. Augustine's College Historic District
Located on a 100-acre campus, the school was incorporated in 1867 by the Protestant Episcopal Church to serve freedmen by educating teachers of black students. In 1928 the school became a four-year institution. Saint Augustine's now offers programs in 38 academic disciplines and has been ranked in the top five of the nation's 117 historically black colleges and universities; on the National Register of Historic Places; 1315 Oakwood Ave; 919-516-4000

South Park Historic District
Raleigh's largest African American neighborhood began to form during Reconstruction Era when freedmen located in Raleigh to take advantage of inexpensive land and such institutions as Shaw University; part of 48 blocks east and southeast of Raleigh's central business district; on the National Register of Historic Places.

Washington High School
Completed in 1924 as the first public high school for African Americans in Raleigh; an architecturally important reminder of education in North Carolina in the 1920s; presently used as a magnet elementary school, 1000 South Fayetteville Street; 919-856-7960

Durham, NC

Scarborough House
This richly decorated Colonial-style house is emblematic of the those built by African Americans in the 1910s; J S Scarborough, who founded an undertaking business, also became the first president of the Colored Voters League in 1922; the league was instrumental in registering many first time Black voters; 1301 Fayetteville Street

Former Royal Ice Cream Company
In August 1957, a desegregation sit-in led by Rev Douglas E Moore of Asbury Temple United Methodist Church which resulted in a court case; Rev Moore and famous Durham attorney, Floyd McKissick led many more sit-ins in public places around town; corner of Roxboro & Dowd Streets

Bennett Place State Historic Site
The site where real emancipation began in the old Confederacy; Confederate General Lee surrendered to Union General Grant on 9 April 1865 in Appomattox, Virginia, establishing the terms of punishment for Confederate states; then on 26 April 1865 Confederate General Joseph E Johnston met Union General William T Sherman at this restored farmhouse between Greensboro and Raleigh, a site selected between the two armies; note: General William T Sherman issued Field Order  #15 which decreed that 40 acres would be set aside in parts of South Carolina and Florida per family of former slaves; history records with infamy that after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, President Andrew Jackson reversed the field order, preventing nearly all former slaves from receiving reparations; Apr-Oct Mon Sun 9a-5p, Nov-Mar Tue-Sat 10a-4p; 4409 Bennett Memorial Road; http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/hs/bennett/bennett.htm

Stagville Preservation Center
At 30,000 acres with over 900 slaves owned by the Bennehan-Cameron families, it was one of the South's largest plantations; Horton Grove contains many historic 18th and 19th century structures for housing enslaved people, Staggville Barn and the Bennehan House, orchard, garden, tobacco barns built by enslaved craftsmen and planters are now dedicated to the preservation of African American cultural and historical studies; the plantations were owned by Richard Bennehan in 1800, a transplanted Virginia merchant who purchased land from Judith Stagg; his daughter Rebecca married Judge Duncan Cameron who operated a neighboring plantation; their son, Paul Cameron, held numerous political and financial positions throughout the state and the family presence extends to Duke University; pre-Civil War life at Horton Grove is captured in the book “The Black Family from Slavery to Freedom” by historian Herbert Gutman; Old Oxford Highway and Jock Road, 7 miles NE of Roxboro Road US 501; 919-620-0120

Black Wall Street
The name “Black Wall Street” was earned from the vast number of African American businesses that flourished there in the 1920's and 1930's, including the earliest homes of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance, Mechanics & Farmers Bank, Bankers Fire Insurance, and Mutual Community Savings; Black Wall Street was actually in the white-business section; located between 100 and 200 blocks of West Parrish Street near Mangum Street

Durham Hosiery Mill
Built in 1901, but after 1904 it was the only mill in the country staffed entirely by African American employees; today it has been historically restored and adapted to an apartment complex; 804 Angier Street at East Main Street; 919-682-4866

Beechwood Cemetery
Contains the graves of many Black Wall Street business and community leaders, including C.C. Spaulding of North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company and Dr. James Sheppard of North Carolina Central University; 3400 Fayetteville Street

Geer Cemetery
Founded in 1876 as the first cemetery for African-Americans in Durham; includes the graves of Civil War veterans; between Camden, Colonial and McGill Streets

Lincoln Hospital
This red brick Revival style structure was built in 1921 on the former Stokes estate; oldest remaining hospital in Durham developed for African Americans; now operated by Duke University Medical Center, it is chartered as Lincoln Health Center; 1301 Fayetteville Street at Linwood Ave; 919-956-4000

Former Woolworth’s Store
Shortly after the Greensboro Woolworth sit-in of 1 February 1960, Durham Woolworth was the site of a similar sit-in protest against “Whites Only” service; it was attended by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rev. Douglas Moore and many others in the Civil Rights Movement; a portion of this historic Woolworth’s counter is on display at North Carolina Central University; 124 West Main Street

North Carolina Civil War Trail
Though still under development, it recognizes Bennett Place, the onetime farmhouse where the largest surrender of Civil War troops was negotiated between Generals Joseph Johnston and William Sherman; other proposed sites include the New Hope Creek area in Southwest Durham where the Union cavalry met retreating Confederate soldiers for the last picket battle of the Civil War prior to the surrender; Durham’s Station Brassfield Station, which served as key train stations during the final troop movements of the war; and West Point where the Union Cavalry camped, among other historic sites; http://www.civilwartraveler.com/northcarolina

Shepard House
The Shepard House is named after North Carolina Central University (NCCU) founder Dr. James E. Shepard; built in 1929, the house originally served as the official residence of the university’s presidents through the early 1980’s and hosted such luminaries as W.E.B. Du Bois, Marian Anderson, Philip Randolph and Mary McLeod Bethune; Shepard was president of NCCU from 1910 to 1947; the property has been renovated and highlights Dr. Shepard’s life and work including photographs, papers and recorded oral histories; Shepard House is not only a focal point for preserving the history of the university, but also that of Black Durham; North Carolina Central University campus; 919-929-4298

North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance
Founded in 1899, when it was tri-managed by John Merrick, Dr. Aaron M. Moore and Charles Spaulding; between 1904-1918 the insurance company expanded its territory of coverage to South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, DC, Maryland; by the end of 1921, insurance in force reached a then staggering sum of $21 million; a national success story, the company now issues insurance nationwide from its modern 12-story building downtown; the company is further distinguished as the nation’s largest Black-owned insurance company with about $10 billion of insurance in force and it is one of the 15 largest insurance companies in the nation; arrange a tour of the Heritage Room for a pictorial review of the company’s history; Mutual Plaza at 411 West Chapel Hill Street; 919-682-9201; http://www.ncmutuallife.com

Mechanics & Farmers Bank
Beginning business in 1908 by RB Fitzgerald and nine others, one of the oldest African-American owned banks; in 1921, the bank merged with Fraternal Bank & Trust; in 1935, they reached $1 million in assets and became the first African American owned bank to receive a highly sought after Certificate of Authority from the Federal Housing Authority; in 1965, they bought this headquarters building from North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance; 116 West Parrish Street at Mangum Street; http://www.mfbonline.com