Black History Month: Celebrating Black art, culture, and stories 

February is Black History Month in the United States – an opportunity to highlight the powerful Black narratives, compelling art and artists, and groundbreaking exhibits that you can explore all year round on Bloomberg Connects. From iconic museums to vibrant street photography, join us in celebrating the past, present, and future of cultural visionaries of African descent.

The DuSable Black History Museum and Education Center in Chicago is America’s first independent museum celebrating Black culture – established in 1961 by Dr. Margaret Taylor Burroughs and her husband Charles Burroughs. The ongoing exhibition Freedom: Origin and Journey takes you on a journey through African American history and highlights the unsung heroes who stood for freedom and equality. 

Here, you’ll find a painting of Robert S. Abbot, who founded the Chicago Defender in 1905. He started with just a 25-cent investment, working from a small kitchen, but the paper went on to have the highest circulation of any Black-owned newspaper in the country. During The Great Migration, the Chicago Defender used its influence to encourage its readers to move north and published train times and job listings to help them on their journeys. One of these migrants was young William McBride, whose family came to Chicago from New Orleans in the 1920s. McBride later became an artist and depicted Abbott in this painting from the mid-20th century.

Those who journeyed north to settle in Chicago became part of the local African American community, in which The Dusable is still rooted today. The museum, named after Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable, the Haitian-born founder of Chicago, was first established as a trading post around 1779. These important contributions by DuSable, Abbot, McBride, and myriad other African Americans throughout the nation’s history are celebrated by the museum.

The New York Historical was founded in 1804 as the city’s first museum. Its impressive collection includes over 10 million pieces, each playing a part in the rich narrative of New York over the past 400 years.

The current exhibition, Our Composite Nation: Frederick Douglass’ America, brings the abolitionist’s famous speech to life through a special installation including artifacts, images, and theatrical design. In the 1860s, Douglass toured America to convey his vision of a nation defined by freedom, unity, and equal rights for all. He argued that America’s mission should be to provide the world with “a composite, perfect illustration of the unity of the human family.” 

Today, Douglass’ speech is an inspiring reminder for contemporary America to live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality. The New York Historical was established by 11 founders who had lived through the American Revolution and recognized the importance of preserving the historic moment from “dust and obscurity.” Building upon this history, the institution aims to highlight ideas that have defined the nation’s democratic heritage and to communicate the lessons of the past to future generations.