Harlem is about to get a museum that tells a side of the civil rights story many Americans never learned in school. The Urban Civil Rights Museum opens its doors on Saturday, Nov. 14, with a grand opening weekend on West 125th Street.

The National Urban League built the museum on the fourth floor of its new headquarters, a short walk from the Apollo Theater and the Schomburg Center. Organizers call it the first museum in New York City devoted to the fight for civil rights in the North.

Most history lessons focus on the marches, sit-ins and bus boycotts of the South. This museum turns the spotlight on Northern cities, where the stories of racism and resistance often get far less attention. It also lifts up lesser-known community leaders and artists who did the work.

What visitors will see

The nearly 12,000-square-foot space covers centuries of history. Exhibits trace the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the Great Migration that brought millions of Black Southerners north, the creative explosion of the Harlem Renaissance and the campaigns that unfolded far from the famous Southern landmarks.

Guests can listen to recorded speeches and oral histories and try hands-on displays. Feedback walls ask visitors about their own moments of courage, like joining a protest or reading a banned book.

Founding executive director and chief curator Jennifer Scott wants people to leave knowing that history is still being written. She said every visitor has a part to play in what comes next.

A tribute to Harlem as home

The opening also debuts Thriving! Harlem as Homeplace, a show about neighborhood life and memory that runs through May 17, 2027. It features delicate metalpoint portraits by Harlem-born artist D. Lammie-Hanson of her family and the places she knew as a child.

National Urban League President Marc Morial said choosing Harlem was no accident. The neighborhood has been a center of Black politics, art and culture for more than a century. He said the museum will tell the country's full story, including its injustices.

The grand opening runs Nov. 14 and 15 at 117 West 125th Street with music, dance and family activities all weekend.