How residents are preserving the history of Black neighborhoods

National Geographic

08-02-2025

Many people are familiar with the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 when white Tulsans destroyed a thriving community known as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 residents were murdered, while promising businesses and homes were looted and burned to the ground. In December 2024, the Justice Department issued its first-ever report on the massacre, calling it 'a civil rights crime unique in its magnitude, barbarity, racist hostility and its utter annihilation of a thriving Black community.' Today, the last two known survivors of the tragedy are still seeking reparations for what they endured and lost. Buildings, like Greenwood Cultural Center and Greenwood Rising house imperative stories of this community, so that they are never forgotten.
The Vernon AME Church is the only building that survived the Tulsa Race Massacre, also known as Tulsa Race Riot. On June 1, 1921, a white mob attacked the Greenwood neighborhood, a predominantly Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Photograph By Bethany Mollenkof, Nat Geo Image Collection
But Tulsa is not an isolated event. Black Americans were prominent home and business owners in many parts of the country, including places like Section 14 in Palm Springs, a square-mile refuge for Latinos and Black people fleeing the Jim Crow South in the 1940s. Two decades later, the city burned and bulldozed the homes without warning, making way for commercial development. Last year, the city of Palm Springs approved a tentative $5.9 million settlement with the families who were pushed out at the time. The popular desert retreat that the city has become has no remnants of this history today, but it's important, nonetheless.
Many neighborhoods like this existed across the United States, where Black communities and businesses flourished, and a retreat from the hostile world just outside provided relief. Their demise was due to the same threats residents hoped to protect themselves from, including racial violence and urban highways touted as urban renewal plans that would destroy streets once filled with prosperous communities.
Below, you'll find more stories of neighborhoods that served as an integral part of American history, and how you can visit and learn more about them.
Some of the more than 800 people injured during the Tulsa Race Massacre were treated in this American Red Cross hospital.
Photograph Library of Congress, Prints and photographs Division
Bruce's Beach, Manhattan Beach, California
Located on a pristine slice of coastline in Southern California, Bruce's Beach was a popular destination and resort for Black Americans. Purchased by Willa and Charles Bruce in 1912, the stretch of land played host to beach picnics during the day and fashionable parties accompanied by live orchestras at night. Summers in the sand were spent in the community, without the fear of racial discrimination that ensued elsewhere. Eventually, this freedom was met with harassment from white residents. Tensions grew so considerably that the city closed the resort and condemned surrounding homes.
In 1927, the NAACP organized a peaceful 'swim-in' to protest beach segregation. The event resulted in the arrest of four Black teenagers who would fight those charges and win, resulting in a law that the beach would be open to the public. In 2022, after much push from the community, L.A. County voted to return the land to the Bruce family's descendants.
A year later, the Bruce family decided to sell the land back to L.A. County for $20 million. Willa and Charles's great-great-grandson Anthony called the reparations 'a reckoning that has been long overdue.'
Today, a plaque at Bruce's Beach Park in Manhattan Beach commemorates the family's legacy and the city's commitment to change, stating, 'We are not the Manhattan Beach of one hundred years ago. We reject racism, hate, intolerance, and exclusion. This park is named in memory of Bruce's Beach and in recognition of Manhattan Beach's next 100 years as a city of respect and inclusion.'
In the early 1900s, Bruce's Beach—land purchased by Willa and Charles Bruce in Southern California—was a popular haven for Black Americans in search of a community free of racial discrimination.
Photograph By Nils Huenerfuerst
(Related: The fight to save 100 years of Black history in gentrifying Los Angeles.)
Tremé, New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans' Tremé is considered the oldest Black neighborhood in America. Founded in the 1800s, it was one of the first places in the country where formerly enslaved and free people of color could own property. 'Life here was deeply rooted in tradition, music, and craftsmanship. Black people in Tremé thrived by creating vibrant communities filled with talented musicians, artists, and business owners,' says Hollis Burton, a New Orleans native who founded the tour company Treme Luxury Experience.
In Tremé's Congo Square, enslaved and free Black people gathered every Sunday to dance, drum, and celebrate–sowing the seeds to what would later birth the second-line, Mardi Gras, and jazz music. 'Families passed down stories, recipes, and traditions, keeping the culture alive through generations. Despite the hardships, Treme's community remained rich in resilience, creativity, and pride,' Burton adds.
A decision in the 1960s to run the Interstate 10 highway through Tremé's Claiborne Avenue adversely affected the neighborhood–which was considered one of the most successful Black business districts in the country at the time. Oak trees that provided shade from the summer heat were bulldozed and properties were seized through the city's claim of eminent domain.
A man dances at a funeral parade to celebrate the life of Lionel Batiste, a singer, bass drummer, and assistant grand marshal for the Tremé Brass Band. Batiste died in New Orleans on July 8, 2012, and for decades, he was known to residents as Uncle Lionel, and to many simply as "Unc.'
Photograph By William Widmer/The New York Times/Redux
'Prior to the construction of I-10, Claiborne Avenue was a Black Wall Street that served the community during Jim Crow. The 100-foot wide median, which is occupied by the highway, was a favorite public open space,' says Amy Stelly, a Tremé resident and co-founder of The Claiborne Avenue Alliance, a community organization that has advocated to remove the expressway. Stelly is a passionate supporter of the removal of the highway, calling it a public health menace that has created an inhospitable environment of air, noise, and pollution as well as crime. The future of the highway is still uncertain, but Tremé's lasting legacy is steadfast.
Tour guides like Burton have created intimate experiences that he hopes will leave a lasting impression on visitors. He recommends visiting places like Kermit's Treme Mother-in-Law Lounge, NOLA Art Bar, and St. Augustine, the oldest African-American Catholic parish in the U.S. One of Burton's most popular tours, the Nola Culture Second Line Tour & Experience provides an intimate look into one of Tremé's most revered traditions, where people gather in the streets to sing and dance alongside brass bands.
'This neighborhood and its people have shaped the cultural fabric of America—jazz, second lines, and so much more started here. It's not just history; it's a living, breathing legacy that deserves to be celebrated and remembered,' he says.
Bronzeville, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
During the Great Migration of the 1900s, many Black Americans in search of opportunity moved North to places like Milwaukee, Wis. Despite the challenges of redlining, bank, and housing discrimination, a neighborhood called Bronzeville became the center of Black economic prosperity and cultural pride.
'In Milwaukee, Bronzeville thrived as a community anchored by theaters, churches, and locally-owned businesses. These included attorneys, doctors, and dentists, who became the backbone of the neighborhood and a testament to its strength and resilience,' says Raynetta "Ray" Hill, Executive Director of the Historic King Drive Business Improvement District No. 8.
In the 1960s, an encroaching highway cut into the heart of Bronzeville, resulting in the destruction of over 8,000 homes and businesses and the displacement of thousands of residents. Those ramifications included a housing shortage crisis and the unraveling of strong-knit communities. Decades later, ever-growing efforts have helped revitalize the community.
'Today, Milwaukee's Bronzeville is undergoing a renaissance, honoring its rich history while building for the future. Visitors can experience a blend of the old and the new, from historical landmarks to innovative spaces that spotlight Black culture, creativity, and entrepreneurship,' says Hill.
She recommends visiting places like Mi Casa Su Cafe and Bronzeville Kitchen and Lounge for soul food and modern culinary twists, Honeybee Wellness and Apothecary for great tea, and Spinn MKE for a hip-hop-to-gospel spin cycle class. Every first week of August, the neighborhood celebrates its legacy with public art installations and murals. Bronzeville is also home to America's Black Holocaust Museum, founded by James Cameron, who survived a lynching in 1930. The museum features several galleries that take visitors on a journey through Black history from 1619 to the present.
'Bronzeville is a place where you can feel the pulse of history and the energy of renewal, a tribute to the resilience of the people who have fought to keep its spirit alive. Whether you're savoring a meal, attending a performance, or strolling its streets, you're stepping into a living celebration of Black excellence and culture,' Hill adds.
Gainsboro, Roanoke, Virginia
Gainsboro was another flourishing Black neighborhood that fell victim to urban renewal programs, resulting in the loss of over 1,600 homes and mass displacement. Before its upheaval, Gainsboro's streets were electric with community. Churches, grocery stores, restaurants, and community programs—in the Roanoke, Virginia neighborhood—provided solace against the violence of racial segregation just outside its corridor. There are people today who are working to ensure that history is not forgotten, like Jordan Bell, who founded the walking tour Gainsboro Revisited. Inspired by the stories his grandmother shared with him about Gainsboro in its heyday, Jordan retraces those important places he learned about during his tours. 'Preserving history is important to me because it's my legacy,' he says.
In Roanoke, Virginia, students celebrate at a pep rally in the gymnasium of Lucy Addison High School, an all-African-American school that opened in 1928 during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation.
Photograph By Virginia room Roanoke Public Library
Organizations including Roanoke Higher Education Center, Roanoke Public Libraries, and Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation are also working to uphold the legacy of the neighborhood. They created The Gainsboro History Project, an app that offers an interactive history and walking tour of Gainsboro via text, graphics, and video, and the newly constructed Central Walkway Plaza is engraved with historical themes and events from 1835 to 1970 for visitors to discover. For Bell, remembering this community is part of his life's work. He recalls the words of a Gainsboro resident, Richard Chubb, who lived in the neighborhood during its heyday. 'He would always say to me, 'When I was coming up, I saw hope.''
Vogue, Bon Appetit, USA Today, NPR, Architectural Digest, and the Los Angeles Times, among others.
Kristin Braswell is a travel journalist and founder of Crush Global Travel . She has penned pieces for, USA Today, NPR,, and the, among others.