Sacramento is building an African American experience project, and it’s asking for help
The city of Sacramento is asking Black families to share mementos and interviews with their elders to build out a project that would reflect the African American experience in the capital city over time.
The effort follows a $50,000 grant the city received from the National Trust for Historic Preservation last year to study African American history and create awareness of Black history and cultural resources in the city.
For the past year, the City of Sacramento’s Historic Preservation team has partnered with California State University, Sacramento students and consultants from other organizations to research African American history in Sacramento.
The team now is asking Sacramento families copies of artifacts, newspaper clippings, family photos, and any other relevant documentation to contribute to their research.
Residents are also being asked to record conversations with their elders and submit those as part of the project.
“This is an exciting project and opportunity to highlight the African American communities and their contributions to Sacramento,” said Sean de Courcy, City of Sacramento’s historic preservation director.
All submitted documentation and recordings will go toward creating an archive of the African American experience that will be held at the Center for Sacramento History for future researchers.
“We are looking forward to working with our community members to begin building this project and being able to share our findings and stories,” said de Courcy.
Those interested in participating, should visit the city website, cityofsacramento.org/, to learn how to submit information and to be a part of the oral history component of the project.
This story was originally published July 23, 2022 at 5:25 AM.
