q2K BHP
Black History Portal
THE BHP WIRE —
HIDDEN TRUTHS
GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS GREENWOOD / BLACK WALL STREET WILMINGTON 1898 LITTLE ROCK NINE TUSKEGEE STUDY ROSEWOOD 1923 THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SENECA VILLAGE BLACK TOWNS
What's New!
THE JOURNEY THROUGH TIME
BHP HOME BEFORE AMERICA 1800–1936 1937–1957 1958–1980 1981–2000 2001–PRESENT

Explore Black History

Explore the people, places, events, achievements, struggles and stories that shaped our journey.

✊🏾

Civil Rights

Movements, leaders, victories and the continuing fight for equality.

⚙️

Black Inventors

Innovation, patents, science, technology and world-changing contributions.

🏆

Sports

Pioneers, champions, Negro Leagues, records, activism and excellence.

♟️

People

Meet the people whose lives, choices and achievements shaped the journey.

📍

Places

Black towns, communities, institutions and places where history happened.

📜

Events

Moments that changed communities, movements, institutions and the nation.

Enter a person, place, event, or topic.
MY'STORY

The MOVE Fire

This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985 Philadelphia police fired thousands of rounds at the MOVE house, city officials approved dropping an explosive device on the roof, the resulting fire was allowed to burn, 11 people—including five children—died, and 61 homes were destroyed. Philadelphia City Council later called it a “brutal attack carried out by the City of Philadelphia on its own citizens” and acknowledged that no individual faced criminal consequences for the bombing. One timeline correction worth preserving for the BHP record: the major previous MOVE-police confrontation was August 8, 1978, about seven years before the bombing, not a year or two earlier. Officer James Ramp was killed, other police and firefighters were wounded, nine MOVE members were later convicted, and television cameras recorded police beating Delbert Africa during his arrest. The 1985 MOVE Commission later specifically criticized city planners for failing to adequately use lessons from that 1978 confrontation. And that actually strengthens the point you’re making: 1985 did not happen without precedent or institutional memory. There had already been a deadly confrontation with MOVE, years of conflict, negotiations and police involvement before Osage Avenue.

MORE →
BLACK FACTS
The Truths They Never Taught You...

Shirley Chisholm — Unbought and Unbossed

In 1968 Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress. In 1972 she launched a campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, breaking another political barrier.

MORE →
BHP gathered finds from its connected research sources. Showing the 4 strongest Black History matches.
← BACK TO RESULTS
NMAAHC

George III silver sugar tongs

Date
ca. 1780
Manufactured by
Thomas Wallis II, English, active ca. 1778 - 1809
Caption
These pieces, much like those they would replace in Slavery and Freedom, represent the deadly plantation economy in the New World that satisfied the international demand for sugar, which became a staple in the English tea industry. They also represent the financial success that sugar brought to successful slave owners, financiers, slave traders, sugar merchants, and the lifestyle maintained by sugar consumers in the United States. Sugar, Britain’s largest import, was also the focus of one of the first anti-slavery boycotts after the abolition bill was rejected by British Parliament in 1791. The boycott attempted to put economic pressure on the slave-dependent industry of sugar, hastening the end of the trade.
Description
A set of George III silver sugar tongs from Thomas Wallis II, London. They are a narrow U-shaped piece of metal that terminate in shallow scallop-shell shaped bowls at each end. At the top of the tongs the bend in the metal is a solid plain silver with no decoration. The arms of the tongs are open metal fretwork, done in a pattern of small circles and larger ovals divided in half. The pattern begins at one end of each arm with a pair of two large ovals, each divided in half. Below them are four small circles arranged in a square. This pattern repeated once more, then the fretwork pattern terminates in a circle divided into three sections, on top of a long narrow neck. The arms are finished at each end by a stylized scallop-shell scoop. On the inside of the tongs' U-shaped bend is solid plain silver with a hallmark on either side. One is a lion passant in a square with a dip at the bottom. The other is a rectangle cartouche encompassing the letters 'TW.'
Place made
London, England
Topic
African American
British colonialism
Commerce
Cooking and dining
Design
Domestic life
Economics
Slave trade
Slavery
Sugarcane
See more items in
National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification
Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
Exhibition
Slavery and Freedom
On View
NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Data Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2020.32.2
Type
sugar tongs
Restrictions & Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions
Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
Medium
silver
Dimensions
H x W x D: 5 1/4 × 1 1/4 × 3/4 in. (13.3 × 3.2 × 1.9 cm)
Title
Object Name • George III silver sugar tongs
Record ID
nmaahc_2020.32.2
Museum
NMAAHC
Title Sort
GEORGE III SILVER SUGAR TONGS
Source
National Museum of African American History and Culture
Metadata Usage
CC0
Date
1770s • 1780s
Name
Wallis, Thomas
Place
London • England
Topic
Design • Economics • Slavery • Cooking • Domestic life • British colonialism • Dinners and dining • Sugarcane • Business
Culture
African Americans
Exhibition
NMAAHC • Slavery and Freedom
Geo Location
City • London • Country • England
Type
sugar tongs
On Physical Exhibit
Yes
Online Media Type
Images
Online Media Rights
No Known Copyright Restrictions

Media

Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution. Rights and restrictions shown above are supplied by the Smithsonian record.

NMAAHC

George III silver sugar sifter ladle

Date: Date

Caption

MORE →
NMAAHC

Charleston slave badge from 1815 for Servant No. 689

Date: Date

Description

MORE →
NMAAHC

George III silver sugar tongs

Date: Date

Caption

MORE →
NMAAHC

Wax jack owned by the Dennis Family

Date: Date

Description

MORE →
TOPIC OF THE DAY

Greenwood / Black Wall Street

Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.

MORE →
TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY

Who became the first Black woman to travel into space?

Mae Jemison, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992.