Join the DC History Center for the grand opening of our new exhibit: Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital. The exhibit opens to the public Saturday, June 28.
Bring your curiosity, your friends, and your love for DC history—we’ll bring the celebration!
Class Action is the DC History Center’s first major exhibition since 2019, on display through 2030. The exhibit is free and open to the public. Regular exhibit hours will be Thursday-Sunday from 12 pm to 6 pm.
Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital features stories of dedicated teachers, school leaders, parents, students, and activists who have worked to protect and strengthen DC’s tradition of Black educational excellence. Class photos and yearbooks along with playful vintage furniture and costumes invite hands-on exploration of what it means to grow up and go to school in the nation’s capital.
Community members built and ran their own schools until the end of slavery, when Congress created DC’s separate Black school system. Over the course of the next century, racism prevented many African American scholars from pursuing their chosen careers. Instead, they became teachers in the nation’s capital, helping the city earn a national reputation for its outstanding Black schools.
The exhibit also highlights Black Washingtonians’ fight for their fair share of resources, even after the Supreme Court finally desegregated DC’s “separate but equal” schools. The stories of people who lived this history, along with class photos, yearbooks, and more, are evidence of how local activism created lasting change.
Class Action invites you to explore this inspiring legacy—and to reflect on how schools have shaped you and your community, wherever you’re from.
Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital is made possible thanks to the District of Columbia Executive Office of the Mayor–Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development; the Institute for Museum and Library Services; Events DC; the Kiplinger Family Foundation; and the Julie B. Koczela Exhibit Fund.