Montana’s African American Heritage Resources

The Identifying Montana’s African American Heritage Places Project compiled a large amount of research on a wide range of topics relating to Montana’s African American History.  This History section of the website includes a number of original essays written for the project based on this research. Essay topics include political history, military history, church and religious history, the history of Montana’s black newspapers, women’s history, and a timeline of events associated with the African American experience in the state.  Documents such as annotated Sanborn Maps, community histories and Historic Property Record Forms, National Register of Historic Places Forms, and story maps also contain a great deal of original history written for the project, and can be found on our Places page.  

Congratulations to Delia Hagen, of Hagen Historical Consulting, recipient of the National Council on Public History’s “2018 Excellence in Consulting Award” for her work on the Identifying Montana’s African American Heritage Resources Project. Lauded as “the fullest [and] richest account of African American history in Helena and much of the rest of Montana,” you can read her comprehensive, award-winning context here.

Photograph Credits: Union Bethel AME Church, Great Falls,” MT SHPO photo, 2013; “Photographic portrait of William C. Irvin, Helena, ca. 1890,” MHS Research Center Photo Archives, #957-597; Goff, “Cavalry Sergeant, unidentified, Fort Custer, Montana, no date,” MHS Research Center Photo Archives, #957-991; The Montana Plaindealer, August 30, 1907, p. 1; “Ruth Mundy (Driver) dressed for the Vigilante Day Parade, Helena, 1939,” Driver Family Photo Collection, used with permission.