ASALH PhilaMontco Branch

09/21/2026

❤️🖤💚 You’re Invited to Join Freedom School Cohort 2!

Join Mother Bethel AME Church and PhilaMontco ASALH for The Philadelphia Black History Journey, September 2026–January 2027!

Journey with us through Philadelphia’s rich Black history as we explore African connections, the Colored Conventions, Black lawyers, historic families, Eden Cemetery, music, architecture, the Black press, and more.

📚 Learn the history. Honor the legacy. Carry it forward.
Scan the QR code on the flyer to register and become part of Freedom School Cohort 2!

OurHistoryMatters

09/20/2026

❤️🖤💚 You’re Invited to Join Freedom School Cohort 2!

Join Mother Bethel AME Church and PhilaMontco ASALH for The Philadelphia Black History Journey, September 2026–January 2027!

Journey with us through Philadelphia’s rich Black history as we explore African connections, the Colored Conventions, Black lawyers, historic families, Eden Cemetery, music, architecture, the Black press, and more.

📚 Learn the history. Honor the legacy. Carry it forward.
Scan the QR code on the flyer to register and become part of Freedom School Cohort 2!

09/18/2026

Have you heard of the American Negro Academy (ANA)? Founded in 1897 in Washington, D.C., the American Negro Academy was the first organization in the United States to support African American academic scholarship.

The founders of the ANA consisted mainly of authors, scholars, and artists. At the time, many Black scholars were being discriminated against through Jim Crow laws and legislation. The academy’s goal was to resolve those issues and support the academic efforts of Black people.

The ANA was organized shortly after the United States Supreme Court had upheld the principle of “separate but equal” in the 1896 case, Plessy v. Ferguson. Dr. Carter G. Woodson was one of many of its notable members. Other members included activists such as Blanche K. Bruce, Archibald Grimke, Paul Laurence Dunbar, and W.E.B. Du Bois.

The ANA ceased operations in 1928, but the work of its former members did not. Dr. Woodson's Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH) was founded in 1915 and directly continued part of the ANA's work by supporting the development of Black historians.

Why do you think it was important for scholars like Dr. Woodson to ensure that others had equal access to education?

Image: Public domain

09/17/2026

On this day in 1849, Harriet Tubman fled slavery in Maryland with her brothers, Ben and Henry.

The three eventually turned back, but Tubman refused to give up. A short time later, she escaped again on her own and made it to freedom in Pennsylvania.

It was the beginning of a life spent returning to Maryland and helping others reach freedom through the Underground Railroad.

09/17/2026

Join Dr. Angela for a cozy chat on sacred love and living crowned in purpose, facilitated by Monique Allen - don’t miss it!
Book Talk with Dr. Angela Crawford
Join Salem’s Library Ministry in person for an inspiring chat about Crowned in Purpose Sacred Letters Love! Dive into the stories and insights behind the book with Dr. Crawford herself. It’s a great chance to connect, ask questions, and get inspired. The book talk will be facilitated by Monique Allen. Don’t miss out on this unique experience!
Book Description

What if your greatest leadership tool was love? What if your deepest healing began with remembering who you’ve always been?

Crowned in Purpose: Sacred Letters of Love, Healing & Community to My Sistahs is a soul-affirming masterwork for Black women navigating the sacred intersections of identity, purpose, leadership, and legacy. Drawing from ancestral pilgrimages to Ghana and Egypt, decades in educational leadership, and a framework rooted in Kemetic wisdom and African-centered spirituality,

Dr. Angela Crawford invites you into a transformative journey one chapter, one letter, one affirmation at a time. With weekly reflection journals, daily affirmations, community-centered prayers, and deeply personal storytelling, this is not just a book to be read. It is an altar. A love letter. A homecoming. Your crown has been waiting. It is time to wear it.

09/13/2026

09/13/2026

Faith Hall is one of the oldest buildings at Bethune-Cookman University. Remodeled to its current appearance in the late 1930s, the building has served many purposes for the school - classroom, cafeteria, training center, and of course, a place of prayer and worship, as its name suggests. Mary McLeod Bethune chose the name 'Faith Hall' in honor of the trait she most accredited to the school's success in those early, hard years of running it, when resources were scarce and she was not yet a name known nationwide.

Image: Library of Congress

09/13/2026

09/13/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DjmcJCmKq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Over the course of his life, Dr. Carter G. Woodson collected a massive collection of original documents and artifacts focusing on Black History. For the research and historic preservation work that he did, it made sense that he needed to keep that sort of thing on hand, but he could not use those resources forever. Eventually, he ended up donating a cache, including thousands of items, to the Library of Congress. Today, his collection is still available through the Library of Congress and can be navigated (if not always viewed) online!

What do you have that you think deserves to be preserved?

Image: When Dr Woodson's collection was put on display in the Library of Congress, archivists used related photos to highlight it, including an image (possibly this one) taken of his friend and colleague Mary McLeod Bethune at chapel service in her college in 1943. (Library of Congress)