Black history’s eye-opening objects

The vestiges of the African American experience can’t always be found in statues and memorials. Quiet treasures abound in Washington. Make it a point to see them all.

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The Greensboro Lunch Counter at the National Museum of American History

The slab of a counter is eight feet long and unassuming, with just four art-deco stools -- two covered in mint-green vinyl, two in salmon-pink. It was in those seats, at that counter in an F.W. Woolworth store, that four Greensboro, N.C., college freshmen launched the sit-in heard around the world on Feb. 1, 1960. The Greensboro sit-in was one of the watershed moments of the civil rights movement, inspiring dozens of similar sit-ins across the country. (Where to see it: National Museum of American History, Second Floor, East Wing, 14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW. 202-633-1000. www.americanhistory.si.edu. Free.)

James M. Thresher / For The Washington Post

The "I have a dream" etching at the Lincoln Memorial

It's startlingly easy to overlook the five short lines of text carved into the granite on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Every day, feet tromp across those words: "I HAVE A DREAM," they begin. The elegantly etched words at the Lincoln Memorial mark the spot where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rallied an estimated 250,000 people on Aug. 28, 1963, during the March on Washington. (Where to see it: 23rd Street NW and West Potomac Park. 202-426-6841. www.nps.gov/linc. Free.)

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. rallied supporters at the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington in 1963. It wasn't until 2003, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the march, that local stone carver Andy Del Gallo was enlisted to etch a marker at the Lincoln Memorial that stretches no more than two feet wide. Simple, but transportive, it's a must-see.

/ Associated Press

The Smithsonian carousel on the Mall

Before the 1940s carousel arrived on the Mall, it was a popular attraction at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park in Woodlawn, Md., one of the region's most booming parks. Gwynn Oak was, as many amusement parks were at the time, whites-only. In September 1955, as a wave of integration efforts was beginning to effect change in schools, restaurants and public services, a group of 40 protesters from a group known as the Congress of Racial Equality arrived at Gwynn Oak to ask why black people weren't allowed in the park, author Amy Nathan writes in her new book, "Round & Round Together." The book chronicles the carousel's place in the local civil rights movement and the broader effort to integrate amusement parks. Today, there are no signs noting that history, but "riding the merry-go-round today can give you a link to that era," Nathan says. "They got nowhere, for years, but they kept persisting and changing their strategies till it paid off." (Where to see it: The carousel is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. 900 Jefferson Dr. SW. 202-633-1000. $3.50 per ride.)

Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images

When Gywnn Oak was desegregated on Aug. 28, 1963, after several years of protests, the first black child to ride one of the park's amusements was a toddler named Sharon Langley, who took a much-photographed whirl on the carousel. The same carousel now resides on the Mall, and children still ride it to this day.

/ Courtesy of the Baltimore Sun

"Storming Fort Wagner" at the Frederick Douglass house

The much-produced 1890 lithograph "Storming Fort Wagner" depicts the African American 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment entering into battle with Confederate forces at Fort Wagner in July 1863, not far from Charleston, S.C. Find it hanging in the foyer of the sunny former home of Frederick Douglass, whose son Sgt. Maj. Lewis Douglass was in the battle that day. Though the unit was defeated, Lewis Douglass survived. Another son, Charles, also was a member of the 54th, the first unit of its kind in the Civil War. (Where to see it: Tours of Cedar Hill, Frederick Douglass's home, are given several times a day. 1411 W St. SE. 202-426-5961. www.nps.gov/frdo. Free.)

/ Library of Congress

The Frederick Douglass home in Southeast Washington is full of treasures, including art, the abolitionist's desk and books, and even his dumbbells. The Civil War image "Storming Fort Wagner," in the front foyer, is particularly poignant because Douglass recruited volunteers for the African American unit that fought at Fort Wagner and two of his sons were members.

James A. Parcell / The Washington Post

"The Death of Cleopatra" at the American Art Museum

In a sculpture-filled hall of the American Art Museum, there's a work that tour guides like to stop and point to: "The Death of Cleopatra." Carved from marble, Cleopatra is limp in her throne, her neck thrown back, her face frozen in unmistakable calm. Set off from the rest of the wing and displayed in its own nook with dusky purple walls, "The Death of Cleopatra" was the work of a young sculptor named Edmonia Lewis. African American and Native American, Lewis was considered to be the first professional black sculptor in U.S. history. But the sculpture didn't arrive at the American Art Museum in style. Shortly after its early exhibitions, it turned up at a Chicago area racetrack, where it was a grave marker for a horse and remained for nearly a century. Until, that is, it was moved unceremoniously to a salvage yard in the 1970s. When it finally arrived in the hands of American Art, it was in a shambles, requiring reconstruction of the queen's nose, hands and breast. Move in close and you can still see the statue's strange journey in the worn, pocked stone. (Where to see it: Smithsonian American Art Museum, second floor, Eighth and F streets NW. 202-633-1000. www.americanart.si.edu. Free.)

Gene Young / Smithsonian American Art Museum

Edmonia Lewis, sculptor of the statue "The Death of Cleopatra," was African American and Native American, and considered to be the first professional black sculptor in U.S. history. She showed so much promise that a sponsor sent her to Rome to pursue her art, and newspapers noted her work widely. Her "Cleopatra," weighing nearly two tons, may have been her most notable piece.

Henry Rocher / National Portrait Gallery

The D.C. Emancipation Act at the Capitol Visitor Center

The signature on the D.C. Emancipation Act says it all: "Approved, April 16, 1862. Abraham Lincoln." More than eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in January 1863, Congress and President Lincoln turned the District into a kind of trial run, freeing nearly 3,000 slaves. With the act, Lincoln made the unusual promise to compensate slave owners for lost property, explains Jane Freundel Levey, chief historian for Cultural Tourism DC. "The abolition movement focused on getting Washington to free the slaves as an example," she says. "Washington has always been a laboratory for the Hill." The document is usually at the National Archives, where it, like the Emancipation Proclamation, is only occasionally on display. But come March, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, it will be part of an exhibit at the Capitol Visitor Center for nearly six months. (Where to see it: On display March 12-Sept. 8 at the Capitol Visitor Center, Exhibition Hall, First and East Capitol streets NE. 202-226-8000. www.visitthecapitol.gov. Free.)

/ U.S. National Archives Records Administration

Shackles at the African American Civil War Museum

The African American Civil Museum is dedicated to telling the story of black people in the Civil War, but the first display at the newly expanded museum starts much earlier, with the arrival of enslaved men and women on these shores. There, on a wall, you'll find the shackles. Not more than a foot long, the small restraints -- "ship shackles," as they are known, because they were used on men and women in the belly of slave ships sailing from Africa to the West -- came to the museum from an anonymous donor, who had gotten them in Ghana. They date to the 18th or 19th century, but little else of their provenance in known. There's something particularly haunting about the ones in the Vermont Avenue museum: You can put your hands on them, feel the cool iron, imagine how cruel it might have been to wear them or to have placed them on another human. (Where to see them: African American Civil Museum, 1925 Vermont Ave. NW. 202-667-2667. www.afroamcivilwar.org. Free.)

Lavanya Ramanathan / The Washington Post

The African American Civil War Museum was renovated and reopened in July 2011 on Vermont Avenue near U Street NW. Among the artifacts are ship shackles, as well as a musket used by African American troops in the Civil War.

Lavanya Ramanathan / The Washington Post

Richard Hunt sculptures at Metro Center

In a public square next to the Cosi at 11th and G streets NW, the handful of towering bronze sculptures might go unnoticed by harried shoppers and lunchtime crowds. But the sculpture garden, a commission by Richard Hunt, one of the most prolific public sculptors in the United States, are among Washington's artistic treasures. Installed in 1992, they are some of the most accessible markers of the African American artist's legacy. (Where to see them: 11th and G Street NW, near the Metro Center Metro entrance. Free.)

Marvin Joseph / The Washington Post

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 19: Vice President Joe Biden speaks before the Frederick Douglass statue now permanently placed in the US Capitol's Emancipation Hall in Washington, DC on June 19, 2013. The statue of the abolition leader was chosen by District residents to represent them in the Capitol because of his stance on self governance according to Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC). The statue by artist Steven Weitzman, was blocked from it's placement in the Capitol for years, a victim of rules that stated that only the 50 states can display statues of their favored sons and daughters in the Capitol. The House and Senate passed a resolution last month allowing DC to be represented in Emancipation Hall which features statues of notable leaders nominated by each state. (Photo by Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

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TV presenter and conservationist Anneka Tanaka-Svenska wears a hat designed by Louis Mariette during the first day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, on June 18, 2013. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. Horse racing has been held at the famous Berkshire course since 1711 and tradition is a hallmark of the meeting. Top hats and tails remain compulsory in parts of the course while a daily procession of horse-drawn carriages brings the Queen to the course. AFP PHOTO / ADRIAN DENNISADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 14: Johnathon Carrington, valedictorian at Dunbar High School, laughs with family and friends after his school's graduation ceremony at Howard University on Friday, June 14, 2013, in Washington, DC. Carrington, who grew up in Tyler House public-housing apartments and is graduating from one of DC's low-performing high schoolsy, where academic expectations are high. (Photo by Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)

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Inmates walk at a high-security male prison camp outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk May 14, 2013. High-security male prison camp number 17 is intended to house male inmates who are serving a sentence for the first time, and have been convicted for serious crimes. Prisoners at the facility work in wood and metal processing shops, manufacture furniture, sew clothes and do other kinds of work. They can also take part in educational, sport and cultural programs. Picture taken May 14, 2013. REUTERS/Ilya Naymushin (RUSSIA - Tags: CRIME LAW SOCIETY) ATTENTION EDITORS: PICTURE 4 OF 29 FOR PACKAGE 'INSIDE SIBERIA'S PRISONS' SEARCH 'ILYA PRISON' FOR ALL IMAGES

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Black history’s eye-opening objects

The vestiges of the African American experience can’t always be found in statues and memorials. Quiet treasures abound in Washington. Make it a point to see them all.

FEATURED PHOTO GALLERIES