Black Towns & Settlements: Foundation for the Future
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About the Project
This project is the result of the nonprofit Next Leadership Development 's Racial Equity, Accountability, and Leadership (REAL) Resilience Initiative. REAL Resilience Fellow Cymone Davis, Black Towns Municipal Management (BTMM) , laid the foundation through researching places in America where Black people who had earned their freedom called home. She focused on finding unincorporated and incorporated historical Black towns, which includes settlements and towns.
Next Leadership Development Executive Director, Dr. Atyia Martin, coached Cymone on the data collection and organization process. Additionally, Dr. Martin and her daughter, Sonja, found images for each identified area, drafted the town descriptions, and created the data visualizations seen below.
We have seen estimates that there may have been as many as 1,200 Black Towns in America. Some researchers estimate that there were over 500 at the turn of the 20th century. There are more towns than we have represented here and we look forward to your input and feedback. We are committed to documenting this important part of American history and sharing more stories of Black resilience.
Context & Language
A Black person may have earned their freedom in a number of ways, for example by escaping, petitioning, fighting in war (including pre-civil war battles), and buying their freedom. Many towns were created by and for Black people. Some Black people who had been born free partnered with those who had been enslaved to create communities where Black people could live, work, play, worship, and build. Other communities were developed by the governments as well as white people who aligned themselves with Black people.
The visualizations that follow are interactive and provide addition information with links to the details of Black towns and settlements. Please note that the range of language used in the original sources may refer to slaves and other terms that are dehumanizing. However, we prefer the language of African people who were enslaved, enslaved African people, or enslaved people out of respect for their humanity.
What We Found
Map of Black Towns
This map explores the existing and historical Black towns and settlements in America. We have also included a Canadian Black settlement that was one of the lasts stops at the end of the underground railroad. Although we only list one Canadian settlement, please know that there is a whole history of Black people who came or were brought to Canada that resulted in dozens of settlements.
Each pin represents a town, settlement, or area that was created by or for Black people. The silver pins represent areas that are no longer considered Black towns. Some of them are still areas with a large number of Black people, but have been a absorbed into another town, city, or county structure. The green pins represent areas where the location is still operational as a Black town or municipality.
We were able to find a representative picture for each town. However, some of the images do not show up in the pop-up. No worries! Click on the More Info link next to the field Display Image and it will open in a new window.
Finally, if you click on any of the pins, you will find additional information, images, and links to learn more about each place. You can even use the find my location button (shown below)
Find My Location
to go to your current location and zoom out using the minus button to see the sites closest to where you are.
If you are on a mobile device, please touch the map to interact with it.
Featured Black Towns
During the research as well as data cleaning and visualization, the Next Leadership Development team noted some interesting and surprising findings that we wanted to share. Here are some tips to using this tool:
- Use the arrows in the bottom right-hand corner to navigate.
- Use the menu icon next to the arrows to see an overview of the content.
- Click on any image to view a larger version.
Rosenwald Schools
Education in Black Areas of the U.S.
Booker T. Washington partnered with Julius Rosenwald and together they conceptualized and funded over 5,000 schools in the rural South for African American youth to have access to education, thereby narrowing the racial gap in educational access in the Jim Crow South.
In 2002, the National Trust joined forces with grassroots activists, local officials, and preservationists to help raise awareness of this important but little-known segment of our nation’s history, placing Rosenwald Schools on its 11 Most Endangered Historic Places list. Of the 5,357 schools, shops, and teacher homes constructed between 1917 and 1932, only 10–12 percent are estimated to survive today.
At least 5 of the towns had information that explicitly state that they had a Rosenwald school:
- Four (4) in Oklahoma: Lima, Tatums, and Brooksville
- One (1) in Tennessee: Free Hill (also known as Free Hills)
In another project, it would be interesting to explore the intersection between Rosenwald Schools and Black Towns...
About Us
Next Leadership Development's mission is to accelerate change and strengthen resilience in Black communities through leadership building, creating our own tables, and developing partnerships with allies.
About Cymone Davis
2021-2022 REAL Resilience Fellow at Next Leadership Development: Cymone Davis' Vision for a Black Boarding School in Tullahassee, OK
Educator and Innovator Cymone Davis is planning a Black boarding School in Tullahassee, Oklahoma
