Black History

As baseball fans across North America rejoice over the opening of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, Atlanta History Center celebrates baseball heroes of the past by examining the teams and players of the Branch Rickey League. From 1956 to approximately 1969, Black baseball players from Atlanta and surrounding areas participated in highly competitive amateur leagues filled with future professional baseball players. Atlanta History Center has launched a project to locate and interview former players and participants in these leagues.

Atlanta History Center, in collaboration with the Christine King Farris Legacy Foundation, Inc. and members of the King Family, is proud to have the Hats of the King Family Women Exhibit on display.

Explore our Civil Rights reading list as recommended by our own Director of Community Collaborations, Dr. La’Neice Littleton.

Atlanta Negro Voters League: Strength in Unity explores the history and legacy of the grassroots voting rights organization that influenced Atlanta elections from 1949 to 1965.

Atlanta Negro Voters League: Strength in Unity explores the history and legacy of the grassroots voting rights organization that influenced Atlanta elections from 1949 to 1965.

In the decades between the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of Jim Crow, Black men in the South could still hold political positions and power. One such politician was Henry Allen Rucker, whose work as Collector of Internal Revenue helped to inspire his daughter’s work as an anti-segregation and voting rights activist. This article tells their story.

Explore Elizabeth McDuffie’s journey from personal cook and maid for the Inman family and President Franklin Roosevelt to a civil rights advocate. Known for her ambition, she was considered for the role of Mammy in “Gone with the Wind.”

American barbecue’s origins are deeply rooted in Black and Indigenous American culinary traditions. Indigenous peoples used open fire pits for cooking for over 10,000 years, and the term “barbecue” evolved from the Taino and West African words “brabacot” and “babbake.” Despite modern associations with suburban men, barbecue spread across the U.S. through migration and has diverse regional styles.

As part of our Civic Season programming, we break down the origins and cultural significance of the regional divides in barbecue.

The Lost Friends Database compiles ads from the Southwestern Christian Advocate newspaper, where African Americans searched for family members separated by the domestic slave trade. Including ads referencing Atlanta, this database highlights the city’s role in this period.

Explore the rich heritage of African American cuisine, from the enduring traditions of West African dishes to the culinary innovations of enslaved chefs like James Hemings. Learn how iconic foods like cala, macaroni and cheese, and bean pie symbolize resilience, cultural preservation, and the profound impact of Black chefs on American culinary history, celebrated through generations.

Join La’Neice Littleton, Ph.D., historian and Director of Community Collaborations, for an exploration of people, places, and events in Atlanta’s Black history.