Black American memorializers have been at the forefront of establishing a national public history landscape. Since that time, it has remained the official site of the Black American West Museum. Operating with unprecedented savvy, African American memorializers have been at the forefront of establishing a national public history landscape. This excerpt, adapted from Black Women Legacies: Public History Sites Seen and Unseen by Alexandria Russell (University of Illinois Press, 2024), appears by permission of the publisher. Du Bois Research Institute Fellow at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research.