Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/5950
Black Meetings & Tourism December 2009: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 26 youth of this time period worked and lived, serving as a unique comparison to today." V I S I T I N G L A N D M A R K S Visits to historic buildings and monuments constitute another facet of heritage tourism. Some of these sites are already world-famous, while others are counting on the heritage tourism and preservation movements to make their architectural and historical significance more appreciated. Most people can list the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and the Betsy Ross House – home of the seamstress who sewed the first American flag – as three of Philadelphia's signature historic landmarks. What may be less widely known is that the Philadelphia Museum of Art is the first major U.S. Museum designed by an African-American architect, or that the city's Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, founded by Richard Allen in 1792, sits on the nation's oldest parcel of land to be con- tinuously owned by African-Americans. Savannah, the nation's first planned city, is home to First African Baptist Church, which is the oldest histori- cally Black Baptist church in the United States. The nation's third oldest synagogue, Temple Mickeve Israel, is also found in Savannah. The historic King-Tisdell Cottage, a museum that was once an African-American residence, spotlights the African-American heritage of Savannah and the nearby Sea Islands. Ralphmark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum in Savannah, GA. Photo Credit: Savannah CVB