Inside the Museum of African American History: The African Meeting House and Abiel Smith School
Two buildings on Beacon Hill’s Smith Court tell the story of Black Boston’s churches, schools and abolitionist struggle. Here is what to know before you visit.
Tucked away on a short lane on the north slope of Beacon Hill, two modest brick buildings hold some of the most important history in Boston. Together they form the heart of the Museum of African American History, which preserves and interprets the story of Black communities in New England.
The African Meeting House
The African Meeting House was completed in 1806. It was built largely by Black laborers and craftsmen, and it is the oldest surviving Black church building in the United States built by free Black people. For much of the 1800s, it was the spiritual, social and political center of Black Boston.
The meeting house was more than a church. It served as a school, a community hall and a gathering place for activists. In 1832, William Lloyd Garrison and others founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society there. Over the years, speakers included Frederick Douglass, Maria Stewart, one of the first American women to speak publicly on political issues, and many others.
During the Civil War, the meeting house was used to recruit soldiers for the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. The building was carefully restored in the early twenty-first century to its appearance in the mid-1800s.
The Abiel Smith School
Next door stands the Abiel Smith School, built in 1835. It is considered the first building in the country constructed specifically to serve as a public school for Black children. It was funded in part by a bequest from Abiel Smith, a white businessman who left money for the education of Black children.
The school became central to a historic fight. Black parents, frustrated by poor conditions and unequal treatment, pushed to end segregated schools. In the 1849 case Roberts v. City of Boston, the father of a young girl named Sarah Roberts sued for her right to attend a school closer to home. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled against them, but activists kept up the pressure. In 1855, the state legislature banned segregation in public schools, and the Abiel Smith School closed as a school soon after.
Today the building houses exhibits, and it is the main visitor entrance for the museum.
What you can see
- Exhibits on Black life in Boston and New England from the colonial era through the twentieth century.
- The restored meeting house interior, with its pews, pulpit and gallery.
- Rotating exhibitions on art, history and culture.
- Programs, lectures and educational events throughout the year.
Part of a larger story
The museum also operates sites on Nantucket, including that island’s African Meeting House, and works with the National Park Service on the Black Heritage Trail. Together, these places tell a story that is often left out of popular accounts of Boston: that free Black men and women built strong institutions here and played a central role in the movement to end slavery.
Planning a visit
The museum is a short walk from the State House and the Park Street T station. Hours, admission and programs can change, so check the museum’s official website before visiting. Pair your visit with a walk along the Black Heritage Trail, which ends at Smith Court, to see the neighborhood that these institutions served.
