Black History Month | Smithsonian Institution

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Tryptic of three photographs: A woman on the left pushing a plow, a miner in the center, and a woman behind a desk on the right.

Celebrate Black History Month with Smithsonian events, resources, exhibitions, and podcasts. The 2025 theme is "African Americans and Labor" with a focus on the various and profound ways that work of all kinds intersects with the collective experiences of Black people.

Upcoming Events

General Resources

Michelle and Barack Obama bump fists.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Gestures of Solidarity in African American Culture

Many African Americans stand, walk, dance and communicate in gestures that set them apart. These gestures can be quiet and illusive, or vibrant and confident.

Detail of Aidah Muluneh Sai Mado The Distant Gaze 2016

National Museum of African Art

Backtalk: Artists on Native, African, and African American Stereotypes

Explore how artists interrogate stereotypes in their work.

Ten-cent dark brown Booker T. Washington single stamp.

National Postal Museum

The Black Experience

This virtual exhibition showcases the black experience in the United States through the lens of American postage stamps.

A quilted and appliqued textile portrait of Harriet Tubman.

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Black Women in History

From Harriet Tubman to Bessie Coleman, celebrate the many Black women who have shaped America.

Black & white photograph. African-American woman with hair to shoulders turned to her right with left hand crossed under right.

National Air and Space Museum

African Americans Take Flight

Learn about the impact African American and Black people from across the globe have had on air and space.

Photograph of Shirley Chisholm standing and facing crowd with hands showing peace signs at antiwar demonstration.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Making A Way Out Of No Way

Visit the virtual exhibit that explores how African Americans crafted possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities.

Arts Resources

Abstract illustration of a person holding up a megaphone with red, peach, black, and green colors.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Art as a Platform for Social Justice

Learn about African American artists and how they have historically served as change agents through their crafts.

Self-portrait of Loïs Mailou Jones

Smithsonian Collection Spotlight

African American Artists

Explore a selection of self-portraits and other works by Black artists in the Smithsonian's collections.

Photo of the three members of the band Run DMC.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Musical Crossroads

Read stories of African American music from the arrival of the first Africans to the present day.

Harlem Hellfighters

Smithsonian Snapshot

Let's Go!

The Harlem Hellfighters fought with ferocity and gallantry and are honored in Bisa Butler’s artwork.

Technics Turntable, used by Grandmaster Flash.

Smithsonian Collection Spotlight

Hip-Hop and Rap

This Technics brand turntable was used by hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash. Discover more hip-hop collection items.

An African American woman sitting on a striped couch with her feet up. Made of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

African American Art

SAAM hosts one of the most significant collections of works by African American artists in the world.

Phillis Wheatley Engraving on paper

National Portrait Gallery

Phillis Wheatley Redrawn

In this Portraits podcast episode, Ashleigh Coren and writer Honorée Jeffers ask us to re-imagine Wheatley's life, drawn in poetry.

Photograph of William P. Foster and members of the Florida A&M University Marching "100" in uniform around a bass drum.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Musical Life at HBCUs

Explore the musical legacy of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in this "Collection Story."

Sidedoor Podcast Episodes

Illustration of the face of Sojourner Truth with a piece missing from her face.

Sidedoor Podcast

The Whole Truth

Much of what we know about Sojourner Truth is fiction. Turns out, the whole Truth is even better than fiction.

Lena Richard illustration.

Sidedoor Podcast

Lena Richard: America's Unknown Celebrity Chef

When Richard cooked her first chicken on television, she beat Julia Child to the screen by over a decade.

Illustration of Augusta Savage sculpting a bust

Sidedoor Podcast

The Monumental Imagination of Augusta Savage

This Harlem Renaissance sculptor has been called one of the most influential artists of the 21st century.

Gladys Bentley

Sidedoor Podcast

Singing the Gender-Bending Blues

Gladys Bentley, a blues singing trailblazer, was unapologetically herself.

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