Self-Guided Tours

Explore Our Online Exhibits

Joshua Glover Plaque
Some Exhibits to Come – Three Centuries Of Enslavement
Harriet Tubman, "The Conductor," with fugitive slaves in Underground Railroad station
Bibliography – Three Centuries of Enslavement
Slave Auction Poster
A 1859 Slave Auction in Savannah, as Reported by the New York Tribune
slaves in cotton field
How Slavery Became the Law of the Land “For Blacks Only”
FredDouglass w:firewks
Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”
The Scourged Back: This slave named Gordon ran for 80 miles to join the Union Forces in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in March 1863. This famous photo of the welts on his badly "scourged back" was taken while he was being fitted for a uniform.
The Scourged Back: How Runaway Slave and Soldier Private Gordon Changed History
"Contrabands": During the Civil War, thousands of slaves escaped their owners in the South by getting to Union Army camps. Thus freed, many continued on to settle in the North.
The Freedmen of Wisconsin
This woodcut, published in 1831 with a story about the Southampton Rebellion, was titled "Horrific Massacre in Virginia."
Nat Turner’s Rebellion: Horrific or Heroic?
Map of the world showing which countries that traffic in humans to the U.S.; map shows how individual countries comply with anti-trafficking laws. The Kansas City Star 2009<p> With BC-TRAFFICKING:KC, Kansas City Star by Mark Morris<p> 02000000; 08000000; 09000000; CLJ; HUM; krtcrime crime; krtfeatures features; krthumaninterest human interest; krtlabor labor; krtnational national; krtworld world; LAB; krt; mctgraphic; 02001000; 02001007; 02011000; CRI; international law; kidnapping kidnaping kidnap; krtlaw law; 04018000; FIN; ODD; african american african-american black; hispanic; krtdiversity diversity; woman women; youth; eames; human; map; morris; prostitution; slave; slavery; smuggle; smuggled; smuggling; trafficking; victim; kc contributed; 2009; krt2009
Traces of the Trade: The North’s Complicity in Slavery
A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali. Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO. TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC
African Peoples Before Captivity
Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie
Kidnapped: The Middle Passage

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This Virtual Museum contains over 3600 exhibits! Choose to tour a specific topic important to you!  Here's how:

In this gallery, you will find a variety self-guided tours to help you better understand issues and topics related to the African Diaspora, regardless of when they took place. By doing so, we provide you new ways to discover all this museum offers. Through our navigation, you can find chronological History Exhibits by era, read the latest Breaking News, and find upcoming local and global Events.

But most important issues do not arise and get resolved at a single point in time. Indeed, many of the issues that Black Americans struggle with have remained with us over decades ––  if not centuries!

Therefore, our self-guided tours provide you two additional ways to explore this museum and better understand issues that continue to impact the descendants of kidnapped Africans:

  • By individual topics (for example, Juneteenth Day or how the concept of "race" came to be)
  • By ABHvM's Four Themes (Remembrance, Resistance, Redemption, and Reconciliation)

Introductory pages in each tour give you general background on the tour's content. Below the introduction, we display exhibits about different aspects of the topic. Clicking links in the exhibits will bring up additional related information to help you see how topics are connected. Pages automatically update each time we add new content.

Check back soon for even more self-guided tours!

Browse By Our Museum's Four Themes

Below, you explore the History Exhibits, Events, and Breaking News articles in each of the Four Themes.

Remembrance

We remember important historical events and people. Some of these are well-known, but most are not. The stories told in most of ABHvM's exhibits have been left out of our history books or been told incompletely.

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Resistance

People of African descent in this country have been targets of injustice for five hundred years, but they have not been simply victims. At ABHvM we also remember the many ways that black people and freedom-loving white people have resisted injustice.

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Redemption

Redemption is the act of saving – or being saved – from sin, error, or evil. Sometimes one person redeems another, or many others. Sometimes people redeem themselves. We tell the stories of both kinds of redemption.

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Reconciliation

Our founder, Dr. James Cameron, encouraged us to remember and to speak honestly and respectfully about our shared racial history,  believing this would lead to racial reconciliation.

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or Browse by Specific Topic

If you prefer, you can browse exhibits and articles by specific topic to learn about:

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter, sometimes shortened to “BLM,” is an anti-racist movement that highlights racism and the disparities that evolve from racism.

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COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed nearly 7 million people since 2020, and has highlighted racial inequalities in healthcare and jobs.

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Emmett Till

The lynching of Emmett Till is among the most infamous lynchings in the United States. 

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Juneteenth

June 19th, also known as Juneteenth, is a day that recognizes the end of slavery in the United States.

Milwaukee

Milwaukee is Wisconsin's city, site of ABHM, and home to a large Black community where racial issues play out often.

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Race

Race is a social construct that categorizes people based on different physical features, specifically skin color. It has been used to justify mistreatment from slavery to redlining. 

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White Supremacy

White supremacy is the belief that white people are better than those of other races and includes actions that preserve power for white people.

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