From the end of the Civil War until the last vestiges of the Jim Crow era were finally deemed illegal, Black Americans sought to obtain their sliver of the American Dream while facing violence and discrimination—a journey that continues today. 

Second-class citizenship forced many Black Americans to create their own communities, where they could live freely. These ranged from beaches where they could enjoy a summer day along the Jersey Shore during the height of segregation, to farming communities that helped Black ranchers, farmers, craftsmen, and business owners create a livelihood, in the face of a society that was otherwise shuttered to them. 

Here are 9 places you can visit today that provided Black Americans with some of what America had been denying them, on the ongoing journey to equality and freedom.