When Deborah Nelson Linck, curator of the Hands On Black History Museum, found a collection of antique photos of African Americans at a mall last summer, she bought them - both out of novelty, and awe.
It was rare for her to find antique photos of black people in such ordinary settings - off to war, with friends, standing next to new cars - like she did for other races, and she knew that there was something to be done with her discovery.
The wheels began to turn. She called upon friends and family to donate their old photos of relatives and started compiling them into an exhibit. Her goal of 100 images tripled, and the result became 'As If We Weren't There,' a showcase of images set up to fill in the missing pages of black history.
The exhibit's images, curated by Linck, specifically focuses on moments dating between the Emancipation Proclamation to the dawn of the Civil Rights movement, where African Americans are not in the spotlight, and are simply being themselves.
The collection opens February 1st and is on display until February 28th in the knave of Christ Church Cathedral.
St. Louis American photographer Wiley Price, a storied photographer in his own right who has been snapping images of African American life for three decades, will give a presentation at 10:00 a.m. on February 3rd at the Cathedral. For more information, click here.
