Coming June 28, 2025!
Class Action: Education and Opportunity in the Nation’s Capital features old-fashioned chalkboards, a library nook, and playful vintage furniture. This family friendly exhibition will invite you to explore how DC’s Black communities advocated tirelessly to open up educational opportunities for their children.
ABOUT THE EXHIBIT
We all have school in common.
Our education shaped us—opening doors while closing others. But what forces determined our schools?
In the decades following Emancipation, Washington, DC became the capital of Black education. Bucking local white opposition after the Civil War, Congress mandated taxpayer-funded public schools for all and established Howard University.
From the late 19th through early 20th centuries, Black administrators recruited highly trained Black teachers, educated here and at elite colleges across the country, gaining the segregated schools a national reputation for academic excellence.
The fight for equal education continued after the Supreme Court’s Bolling v. Sharpe landmark decision legally desegregated DC schools in 1954. Black students and educators transformed DC’s formerly white schools into institutions that lifted up Black history, art, and music.
For more information, contact Deputy Director Anne McDonough at amcdonough@dchistory.org or Executive Director Laura Brower Hagood at lhagood@dchistory.org.
EXHIBIT SPONSORS
Class Action 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.