This is a practical travel guide to locating significant places in African American history and culture, organised by region. The work includes numerous photographs

Part one-South: Free African American before the Civil War -- Slave housing in the South -- Black American and religion in the South -- Growth of African American commercial enterprise in the South -- Schools and education for African Americans in the South -- African American participation in battle -- Alabama -- Arkansas -- District of Columbia -- Florida -- Georgia -- Kentucky -- Louisiana -- Maryland -- Mississippi -- North Carolina -- South Carolina -- Tennessee -- Virginia -- West Virginia -- Part two-Northeast: Slavery and segregation in the Northeast -- Opposition to slavery -- Segregation and achievement -- Connecticut -- Delaware -- Maine -- Massachusetts -- New Hampshire -- New Jersey -- New York -- Pennsylvania -- Rhode Island -- Vermont -- Part three-Midwest: Northwest ordinance and slavery -- Prohibition against importing slaves into the United States -- Fugitive slave laws -- Missouri Compromise -- Kansas-Nebraska Act -- Equality in the Midwest -- Midwest achievers -- Illinois -- Indiana -- Iowa -- Kansas -- Michigan -- Special feature: Canada -- Minnesota -- Missouri -- Nebraska -- North Dakota -- Ohio -- South Dakota -- Wisconsin -- Part four-Southwest: Buffalo soldiers -- Black communities of Oklahoma -- Other Southwest sites -- Early homes in the Southwest -- Challenge of the Southwest -- Arizona -- New Mexico -- Oklahoma -- Texas -- Part five: West and the noncontiguous states: African Americans in the Western states -- Noncontiguous states: Hawaii and Alaska -- California -- Colorado -- Idaho -- Montana -- Nevada -- Oregon -- Utah -- Washington -- Wyoming -- Alaska -- Hawaii.