The San Francisco African American Historical and Cultural Society presents exhibits, programs, speakers, and other events which inform and provide context on African American history, life and culture. This page features current and upcoming events and highlights a memorable past exhibit.

Events


  • View the annual Black History Month Kick-off event with keynote speaker, Ralph Remington, whose remarks reflect the 2024 BHM theme, "African Americans and the Arts."
  • Society Board meetings via video conference, monthly
  • Drop-in genealogy help on most Wednesdays, 1-3, bring your device, at the Society
  • Society Book Club via Zoom: Reclamation: Sally Hemings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant's Search for Her Family's Lasting Legacy, African American Legacy Book Club, African American Center, SFPL/SOCIETY, March (more to come) limited supply of books, REGISTER now

Exhibits, Past, Present, Future

  • “Voting,” an exhibit to encourage Africans Americans and others to vote, in the Society's gallery and offices
  • See the spectacular sculpture, “Jesse Owens,” by Montford Cardwell, in the Society's gallery and offices
  • “we were here,” through March 2024, San Francisco Public Library, African American Center, Main Branch, several items on loan from the Society's collection will be exhibited
  • “Toward a Black Aesthetic: Kenneth P. Green Sr's Photographs of the 1960s and 1970s,” January 25 - April 2024, Jewett Gallery, SFPL, Main Branch, lower floor
  • Sargent Claude Johnson, at the Huntington, Pasadena, February 17 - May 20, 2024, Pasadena. Three works by Johnson on loan from the Society's collection will be exhibited
  • San Francisco history exhibit, San Francisco Airport Museum, February 2024. Several pieces from the Society's collection are on loan to the Museum for this exhibit

Events of Interest

  • “Mapping Maya,” researching the proposed Maya Angelou National Historic District, John Templeton, February 8, 2 pm, Rosa Parks Apartments, 1251 Turk St.
  • Generational Wealth: Building Spiritual and Personal Wealth workshop, Hunnicutt Foundation, February 10, 11 am - 3 pm, Southeast Community Center, Third and Evans Streets
  • John Wiliam Templeton, “the official Black San Francisco Historian,” talk, February 21, 2 pm, Rosa Parks Apartments, 1251 Turk St.
  • Dr. Jacqueline Francis in Conversation with Virginia Smyly on Sargent Johnson, February 29, 2024, 6 pm., SFPL African American Center
  • African American Citywide Historic Context Statement to be heard for approval by the Historic Preservation Commission, February 21, 12:30 pm
  • More Than A Month, February, San Francisco Public Library
  • Black History Month – Black Culture Fest African American Museum and Library of Oakland

Other Exhibits and Recorded Workshops

Society Films


Coming soon, “Harlem of the West, Then and Now,” produced by Citizen Film and the Society, a look back at the jazz era, the players and their lives in San Francisco, and the lasting impacts of those days on the Fillmore and San Francisco.

African Americans and the Vote

African Americans and the Vote, a documentary film featuring Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., Judge John Dearman, and De’Anthony Jones, was “on time” for the November 2019 election; and it remains of import. The life stories of those featured in the video speak to the importance of voting. That election demonstrated that the African American vote can make a difference! The film documents their childhoods, family backgrounds, and opportunities that shaped their lives as African Americans involved in the political and public arena.

This is the second Black History Month documentary produced by the Society in conjunction with Citizen Film. The film was honored at the Bernal Heights Outdoor Film Festival in 2019. We are now proudly able to present the film in its entirety here.

Or visit the Citizen Film site to see the film and many others of local interest. For more information, contact the Society at sfaahcs.org, or 415-292-6172


Migration Stories

A film depicting 6 people's oral history of migration to San Francisco, produced by The Society and Citizen Film for Black History Month 2019: Migration Stories of San Francisco African Americans

Read Black Migrations film discussion points