Exhibitions

The New York State Museum is honoring the Black women whose faith, resilience, and leadership helped shape Albany’s communities. Between 1910 and 1970, more than seven million African Americans left the South in search of higher wages, better housing, less discrimination, and improved opportunities for their children. Many settled in New York State—and in Albany—where they built new lives while navigating the challenges of unfamiliar northern cities.

The exhibition features 24 hats worn by women who made their homes in Albany’s South End, Arbor Hill, and Rapp Road neighborhoods. Through these extraordinary pieces, visitors will encounter the lived experiences of influential community builders and leaders who helped anchor and uplift Black life in the Capital Region.

During the Great Migration, the Black church quickly became a vital anchor and a source of community strength. Within these sacred spaces, church hats emerged as powerful expressions of faith, dignity, and self‑definition. These “crowns” were far more than Sunday fashion. Each hat carried memories of the South, hopes for the future, and the spiritual grounding needed to navigate unfamiliar cities. Worn with pride, they testified to women’s leadership, resilience, and creativity —telling personal migration stories, each one a testament to the journeys, struggles, and triumphs of those who moved forward in faith to make New York their home.