PRESERVING OUR HISTORY
URBAN CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM IN HARLEM OPENING IN 2026
Located on 125th Street in central Harlem, the Urban League Empowerment Center will provide 20,000 square feet of exhibition and programming space for The Urban Civil Rights Museum in Harlem, New York’s first-ever museum dedicated to civil rights.
A Museum Focused on Urban Civil Rights:
The Museum’s permanent exhibition, developed in partnership with Local Projects, and its educational and public programs will:
- Showcase the role of the civil rights movement in the development of northern cities
- Provide interactive and educational experiences suitable for children and adults about the long, historic fight for justice featuring individuals and organizations that were key in the Movement, including the National Urban League’s work in helping historically disadvantaged people pursue, obtain, and maintain economic and social opportunities
- Capture the stories of the Harlem Renaissance and the Great Migration and ways people have organized to secure better lives for themselves
A Museum for Harlem, New York, and Beyond
The Urban Civil Rights Museum (UCRM) will have a tremendous impact on the local neighborhood, city of New York, and far beyond. The Museum is:
- A Step Forward for Social Justice
The UCRM will be a museum of the history of civil rights and also a demonstration of African Americans’ right to history, and truth-telling, the right to tell their own stories that have been forgotten, devalued, erased, and undocumented.
- An Unmatched Community Resource
The UCRM, and greater Urban League Empowerment Center, provides unprecedented economic and cultural resources and contributes to the health, wellbeing, and sustainability of the local neighborhood.
- A Connector to Rich History
The UCRM will function as a cultural cornerstone in the community and a first stop for visitors interested in the development of Harlem as an epicenter of African American cultural and social history.
- A Steward of Untold Stories
The UCRM will tell the often-overlooked stories of the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, it will preserve the memories of Harlem, as a neighborhood experiencing rapid gentrification, through the collecting and interpreting of stories and memories from current and former residents.
- A Social Change Agent
The UCRM will imagine new possibilities and inspire future action and civic engagement. The fight for civil rights and the Civil Rights Movement does not live in the past. It is our present and our duty to move forward towards an equitable future for all.