With their longtime presence even before the establishment of a city, African Americans have been central to the culture, heritage and civic life of Washington, DC. This website records nearly 300 places associated with African American history and culture in the District of Columbia. These sites span the city's history from its creation in 1791, through the Civil War and Civil Rights eras to 1974—when DC gained Home Rule—and beyond.

The selected sites highlight the social, cultural and political movements that have shaped the city. They tell the story of events and people who changed its history. They include the boundary stones of the new federal territory, famously set on sites determined by astronomer Benjamin Banneker in 1792 and the Lincoln Memorial where Marian Anderson sang in 1939 and where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963. They also include many of the schools, businesses, churches, recreational centers, communities and homes of individuals where Black Washingtonians studied, worked, worshipped, played and consistently fought for their rights as individuals and as a race.