Black History Month at the History Center

The History Center interprets and preserves African American history and culture year-round through a variety of events and exhibitions curated by the museum’s African American Program. This work is accomplished through research, artifact and archival collecting, consulting, educational programming, exhibitions, and public outreach.

In recognition of Black History Month, the African American Program of the Heinz History Center will present two public programs in February. 

Black History Month Programs

From Slavery to Freedom Film Series Presents “The Hero”

Join the African American Program for a free, virtual screening of “The Hero,” on Feb. 12, as part of the 2025 From Slavery to Freedom Film Series.

11th Annual Black History Month Lecture with David Dennis Jr.

Join award-winning journalist and author David Dennis Jr. on Feb. 20 as he speaks about the remarkable life of a prominent leader and activist during the Civil Rights Movement – his father, David Dennis Sr. 

From Slavery to Freedom

Exhibit

Heinz History Center

The long-term exhibit explores the enslavement of Africans and its effect on the American economy, the history of the anti-slavery movement, the Underground Railroad, and the impact of 19th-century activism on the modern quest for civil and human rights in Pittsburgh. 

Explore more than 250 years of African American history in the History Center’s exhibition. 

More Exhibits Highlighting Black History in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation

The Pittsburgh: A Tradition of Innovation exhibit honors several African Americans who made trailblazing breakthroughs, including Dr. Velma Scantlebury, the nation’s first African American woman transplant surgeon and student of UPMC’s late Dr. Thomas Starzl.   

Negro League Baseball

As home to two of the Negro League’s most dominant teams – the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords – Pittsburgh was once the center of Negro League baseball. Learn more about the legacy of Pittsburgh’s Negro League teams in the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum. 

Header image: Wylie Avenue near Fullerton Street looking west on Wylie toward downtown Pittsburgh, October 1956. The view includes the storefronts of “Ma” Pitts, the Crawford Grill jazz club, and Crampton’s Drugs. From the Allegheny Conference on Community Development Photographs, Detre Library & Archives at the History Center.