The Carl Maxey Center and Spokane Public Library are partnering to create an archive for Black history in the region.
Dana Bronson, archivist and special collections librarian at Spokane Public Library, says Black stories were never included in many archives, and museums.
“It can be really challenging to find the story of Black history,” Bronson said, “despite the fact that the community has be here since the founding of Spokane and have made rich, and meaningful contributions to our local history.”
In a news release earlier this month, Jillisa Winkler, Interim Operations Manager and Program Coordinator at the Carl Maxey Center, said organizers were looking to uplift, and empower Spokane’s Black community through the project.
“An important part of building is knowing where you’ve come from and the histories of people before you,” Winkler said. “We are excited to build an archive to begin telling the stories of the rich Black History in Spokane, to showcase all of the amazing people that have come before us who have helped to establish and improve the lives of African Americans in the Inland Northwest.”
Bronson said organizers, which include the Spokane Public Library, Carl Maxey Center, the Museum of Art and Culture, Eastern Washington University, and the Spokane Historic Preservation Office, are asking community members to gather photos, letters, memorabilia and other objects or documents that tell the story of the region’s Black Community to archiving event.
“If people have old political signs, restaurant menus, a really special family object that's meaningful to them, we'd love to see those too,” Bronson said, “really large things are going to be challenging for us. We're trying to keep it to something that's easy to photograph, or scan.”
All objects brought in will be photographed or scanned and immediately returned. They’ll become a part of a digital archive that will eventually be managed by the Carl Maxey Center.
People who have objects, photos or documents that tell the story of Spokane’s Black History can bring them to the Carl Maxey Center at 3114 E 5th Ave in Spokane, on October 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
