"Same As You"
by Richard Allen

The entertainer Bert Williams began his professional career and rose to the top in the only way possible during the last years of the nineteenth century - as a minstrel, and for a little while he as America's biggest star. His journey is one of the forgotten triumphs of the twentieth century's struggle against racism.

"Black and Cowboy"
by Todd Witcher

In the years after the Civil War, African Americans began migrating west, bringing with them considerable horsemanship learned during slavery while toiling as stable boys, trainers and jockeys. They used these skills first as cowboys, then as rodeo riders. The tradition lives today in the nearly 800 black professional rodeo cowboys.

Beacon Hill was home to Boston's oldest, wealthiest, and most distinguished families. What most people don't know, though, is around the same time it was home to one of America's first and largest communities of free blacks. The Black Heritage Trail takes us on a walking tour of African-American history in Boston.