COLORADO, DENVER

FIVE POINTS NEIGHBORHOOD
 

The Five Points neighborhood includes Welton Street, the only predominantly African-American owned commercial strip in America. Five Points was a popular stop for African-American jazz musicians--including Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton, and countless others. They stopped in Denver on their way between the midwest and west coast.

BLAIR CALDWELL AFRICAN AMERICAN RESEARCH LIBRARY, FIVE POINTS NEIGHBORHOOD 

ALASKA, YUKON HIGHWAY

Map of the Yukon Highway

Built by African American Soldiers in 1941.

In 1941, the United States government decided to build a highway in Alaska that would cross the rugged State and cross five mountain ranges. Most of the engineers in the Armed Forces were engaged with fighting the Japanese but, the government decided this road was needed for National Security so, the government deployed 11,000 Black soldiers to work under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  The U.S. War Department organized battalions of Black engineers who were assigned to segregated units and commanded by White officers. They mission was to build the Yukon Highway and they did.

Most of the Black recruits came from the South and had never lived through the biting cold of an Alaskan Winter. Plus, they had racism to deal with and White officers who did not wan lead non-engineers on such a dangerous mission. However, in spite of the weather, the racism and tough terrain of Alaska the Black soldiers built the Alaskan Yukon Highway in eight months.

The Yukon Highway is the Alaskan Highway Route 2, Interstate A1 and Interstate A2. Travelers can drive this road that was built by African Americans.

http://www.tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistory/en/highway.html

ALABAMA, CITY OF TUSKEGEE

                                  

Home of Booker T. Washington 

Powerful African American leader, 1800's-1900's

The Oaks

905 W Montgomery Rd, Tuskegee, AL 36083

Booker Taliaferro Washington was born April 5, 1856 in Hale’s Ford, Virginia. He was an American educator, orator, author and President of Tuskegee University. He was freed from slavery as a child, gained an education, and as a young man was appointed to lead Tuskegee Institute then a teachers' college for blacks. From this position, he rose into a nationally prominent role as spokesman and leader. He worked with major philanthropists to contribute to education at Tuskegee and for public schools for black children in the Southern States and in Alabama. He also led efforts to donate to legal challenges to segregation and disfranchisement.  From 1895-1915 he was the most powerful African-American man in the nation. Visit the Oaks, Booker T, Washington's home to see tangible evidence of his success. The Oaks was built on the campus of Tuskegee Institute for Washington and his family in 1915.

                                                    Booker T. Washington

References http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/tuskegee/btwoaks.htm

CALIFORNIA, CITY OF LOS ANGELES, WATTS COMMUNITY

                                                        WATTS TOWERS

                                           http://www.wattstowers.net/

Watts is a historically black neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Located in South Central Los Angeles and bound by 108th Street, Century Boulevard and 107th Street on the north; Wilmington and Croesus Avenue on the east; Imperial Highway on the south and Compton Avenue and Central Avenue on the west.

Watts was the site of one of the largest Black urban riots in U.S. History which began on August 11, 1965 and lasted for six days. The riots were widely known as the Watts riots although they ranged throughout the city. The Watts Towers was designed by Simon Rodia, a sculpturer and stands a as symbol of Watts.

CALIFORNIA, CITY OF SAN FRANCISCO

THE FILLMORE DISTRICT
AFRICAN AMERICAN JAZZ AND CULTURE

The Fillmore District, once the most vibrant African American neighbor-hood in San Francisco, is making a comeback three decades after it was targeted for urban renewal. Efforts also are under way to make this a Jazz Preservation District, restoring the area to its former 1940s glory when it was called the Harlem of the West and boasted two dozen jazz venues, including Jimbo’s Bop City.

Fillmore District -- Located in the Lower Pacific Heights, San Francisco
http://www.thefillmoredistrict.com/

ARKANSAS, CITY OF LITTLE ROCK

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

LOCATION OF FIRST INTEGRATED PUBLIC SCHOOL IN ARKANSAS

On the morning of September 23, 1957 nine African-American teenagers stood up to an angry crowd protesting integration in front of Little Rock's Central High as they entered the school for the first time. This event, broadcast around the world, made Little Rock the site of the first important test of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, the decision that resulted in integration of schools in the United States.                         "TESTAMENT" STATUE IN ARKANSAS STATE CAPITOL                                     IN HONOR OF THE LITTLE ROCK NINE                                                             TESTAMENT     Visit the Little Rock Nine statue called "Testament" in Little Rock, on Capitol Avenue in downtown Little Rock, at the intersection between Woodlane & Capitol Avenue. You can't miss it. "Testament" is a tribute to the nine courageous young  men and women who integrated Central High School http://www.nps.gov/chsc/