Capstone Hub: American History and Culture Hubs for Black History Month Projects and Coloring Pages

First recognized as an event in 1915, Black History was celebrated at the 50th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In 2012, we are just three years short of the Sesquicentennial of the proclamation that freed black slaves in America. The celebration grew into a month-long event that has continued to develop and gather events and opinions of all kinds.

February 2012 is not only Black History Month, but also Leap Month with 29 days, giving the nation another day to celebrate and learn about Black History. Each year the study becomes mre interesting as the National Geographic, Smithsonian, IBM Genographic Project indicate increasingly more closely how all races are related by DNA. There are some differences that look huge to us humans, but the the larger genetic scale, the percentages of differences are remotely tiny.

Television programs like Who Do You Think You Are? and broadcasts from National Geographic specialize in the surprises that genealogical seekers experience when they find their ancestors and current relatives they knew nothing about. I've been surprised and so have 1000's of others, making a knowledge of ethnic histories necessary to the understanding of each of our backgrounds.

This Hub presents references to selected HubPages articles concerning Black History. I hope you, your families, and your children can benefit from them.

One of my favorite US cities for historic installations and other attractions, Detroit is packed with interesting Black History. Several churches in town are historic stops on the Underground Railroad and some maintain museums in honor of that heritage. Detroit was the last stop before Canada, namely Windsor, Ontario across the Detroit River. Underground Railroad installations are popular in the Province of Ontario as well. A popular tour takes visitors through Detroit and Windsor, then on to the North American Underground Railroad Museum in Ontario.

• 1st Congregational Church of Detroit - 33 E. Forest. Underground Railroad. http://www.friendsoffirst.com/home/
• 2nd Baptist Church - 441 Monroe Street in Greektown near Gratiot and Woodward. Underground Railroad.
• Black Bottom Historic Neighborhood - Now Lafayette Park and on the National Register of Historic Places, it is on the Lower East Side and was formerly bounded by Gratiot Avenue, Brush Street, Vernor Highway, and the Grand Trunk Rail Line.
• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History - 315 East Warren, Detroit. www.thewright.org/ -- This museum occupies 125,000 square feet in Downtown Detroit.
• Motown Historical Museum - 2648 West Grand Boulevard, Detroit. http://www.motownmuseum.com/
• Wayne State University -Cass Avenue and Putnam Street, Detroit. WayneState University is Michigan's only urban research university. Detroit African American History Project - www.daahp.wayne.edu/

All of the above attractions are pinned on the map offered below. While 1st Congregational Church of Detroit (map point A) may have been the very last stop on the Underground Railroad before Windsor, Ontario, Canada; I wonder if escapees and their conductors and guides ever used Belle Isle to the east as cover.

Almost single-handedly, SAG Producer, Director and Actor Sean H. Robertson is reviving Michigan's film industry after State tax incentives were cancelled in 2011. Operating 313Wood: The New Detroit, he has already garnered success and recognition for African-American and other artists in a wide range of venues. One of his latest adventures into success is his Internet-based film called the Great Lake State. He is also working on making his novel trilogy into film in 2012. The first installment in print is: Sean H. Robertson's Cries of Vampyra

The following links include a number of topics that may interest readers wanting more information about African and African American culture, history, and interactions with other groups. They are placed together as very Interesting in the first group, followed by Settling the American West, Politics and War, and Food and Recipes, all followed by links for free coloring pages.

Some of these Hubs will furnish information that you did not know or add data to lessons you were already taught in part. Some may be surprising. Some may give you ideas doer research for reports and projects that will be different form the usual lessons seen during Black History Month.

If you have other constructive ideas for people studying the month-long tribute, please add them in the comments section below.