In Revolutionary War-obsessed New England, the history of the black community that thrived in Boston from early colonial times gets short shrift, with some notable exceptions. The final stop on the Black Heritage Trail, this museum is one of those exceptions, presenting a comprehensive look at the history and contributions of blacks in Boston and Massachusetts. It occupies the Abiel Smith School (1834), the first American public grammar school for African-American children, and the African Meeting House, 8 Smith Court. Changing and permanent exhibits use art, artifacts, documents, historic photographs, and other objects -- including many family heirlooms -- to explore an important era in the country's history. The oldest standing black church in the United States, the meeting house opened in 1806. William Lloyd Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society in this building, where Frederick Douglass made some of his great abolitionist speeches. Once known as the "Black Faneuil Hall," it also schedules lectures, concerts, and church meetings. The museum (formerly the Museum of Afro-American History) will mount the temporary exhibit Black Entrepreneurs of the 18th and 19th Centuries beginning in the fall of 2008.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Boston 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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