This Black History Month at The Paley Museum, we explore the legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X by spotlighting the latest installment of National Geographic’s Emmy-winning Genius anthology series, Genius: MLK/X. For the first time, this new season of Genius focuses on two iconic geniuses—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X—and how their dueling philosophies helped usher America through the Civil Rights movement.

This riveting exhibition, with authentic costumes, props, and set decorations from the series, provides a window for visitors to transport themselves into the heart of the 1960s Civil Rights movement chronicled in Genius: MLK/X.

On Display

ARTIFACTS: Get up close with posters, signs, newspapers, and personal items that marked the paths of these influential leaders. Watch video clips and historical archival footage to gain a deeper understanding of their contributions.   

ORIGINAL COSTUMES: The exhibit will feature original costumes from the series, including iconic, period-accurate zoot suits, a Fruit of Islam uniform, watches, and hats.   

SCREENINGS: Step into Paley's theater and immerse yourself in a curated selection of documentaries and interviews celebrating the incredible lives of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, as well as the premiere episode of Genius: MLK/X.  

FAMILY FUN and TRIVIA: Join us for family events and arts & crafts activities that aim to educate and inspire, or test your knowledge with our interactive trivia game. Browse through carefully selected MLK and Malcolm X books for both kids and adults in our library and explore curated shows related to the Civil Rights movement.

Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes (1901–1967) held friendships with artists across generations and disciplines. He forged connections between creative professionals, encouraged the work of others, and helped build a larger network of Black creatives and intellectuals responding to, and shaping, the current events of the time. Among them were Arna Bontemps, Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy West, Regina Andrews, Margaret Danner, Louis Armstrong, Randy Weston, and Roy DeCarava. The photographs in this exhibition offer an intimate look at Langston Hughes with students, writers, visual artists, and performers in different periods of their maturation. 

One friendship began in the classroom at Atlanta University when photojournalist Griffith Davis (1923–1993) was a student and Hughes a visiting professor. After graduating from Morehouse College in 1947, Davis became the first Roving Editor of Ebony magazine at the recommendation of Hughes. In 1948, Davis attended the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and rented a room in Hughes’ Harlem home on East 127th Street. Davis used Hughes’ home as a base while working as an international freelance photojournalist. Hughes used Davis’s marriage to Muriel Corrin Davis in 1952 as the basis for Simple Takes a Wife of his Simple series.

Multiple professional collaborations emerged from the mentorship, as did an enduring friendship. In this exhibition, Griff Davis’s photography is complemented by archival material from the Schomburg Center’s collections and letters reflecting decades of personal correspondence. 

The exhibition The Ways of Langston Hughes and its text are adapted from the traveling exhibition Griff Davis-Langston Hughes, Letters and Photographs, 1947 – 1967: A Global Friendship, originated at the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts.

For more than 30 years, the Tenement Museum shared stories about the people who once lived in the building it now owns. But that meant that some groups—particularly Black New Yorkers—were excluded, as there's no record of a Black family living in the apartment building at 97 Orchard Street. 

Now, with an aim to explore the full breadth of immigrant and migrant experiences, the Lower East Side museum is highlighting the stories of a Black family for the first time with a new tour titled "A Union of Hope: 1869." The exhibition tells the story of the Moore family who lived in Soho during and after the Civil War. The newly launched experience will offer an expanded schedule during February for Black History Month; reserve tickets here for $30/person.