Malcolm X House Site

Malcolm X House Site

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925 on this now-demolished house site in Omaha, Nebraska. His mother, Louise Norton Little, was a homemaker occupied with the family’s eight children. His father, Earl Little, was an outspoken Baptist minister and avid supporter of Black Nationalist leader Marcus Garvey.

Earl’s civil rights activism prompted death threats from the white supremacist organization Black Legion, forcing the family to relocate twice before Malcolm’s fourth birthday.

As a young man, Malcolm Little engaged in several illicit activities and was eventually sentenced to 10 years in prison in 1946 for larceny and breaking and entering. In prison, he joined the Nation of Islam, adopted the name Malcolm X, and quickly became one of the organization's most influential leaders.

As a civil rights leader he advocated racial separatism over integration and the legitimacy of violence in self-defense. He also championed the beauty and worth of blackness and black Americans' African past.

Malcolm X's birthplace was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and is also on the Nebraska list of heritage sites.