Photo: Dia Dipasupil / Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images
The Black Information Network’s My History Lives Here Black History Month series continues with the Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem, New York — a soon-to-open institution focused on documenting and interpreting civil rights struggles and activism in urban centers across the United States.
Located at 117 West 125th Street in Manhattan’s historic Harlem neighborhood, the Urban Civil Rights Museum is housed within the Urban League Empowerment Center, a mixed-use development that also includes affordable housing and nonprofit space. When it opens in 2026, it will be the first museum in New York City dedicated specifically to the history of the civil rights movement and its impact on Northern urban communities.
The museum’s mission is to interpret, document, and share stories often overlooked in traditional civil rights narratives — from economic and educational justice to grassroots organizing and cultural movements rooted in cities like Harlem. Exhibitions and programming will explore themes such as the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and how urban activism shaped the broader struggle for racial equity.
As many Black history museums face challenges around funding and visibility, My History Lives Here is elevating institutions like the Urban Civil Rights Museum — spaces that preserve diverse chapters of Black history and invite deeper engagement with the ongoing fight for justice. Because Black history isn’t confined to the past. It lives here.
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