The destruction of neighborhoods and displacement of families of color have historically disrupted people’s understanding of their roots across the U.S. including St. Louis. This unfortunate phenomenon can be seen in recent efforts to recognize St. Louis’ lost Chinatown in Downtown and the spotlighting of the predominantly Black neighborhood Mill Creek Valley — both lost to urban renewal efforts and targeted negligence from past government leadership.
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture hopes to save delicate video and audio recordings as well as fragile paper artifacts from, and for, Black communities across the nation, and they have set up shop in St. Louis this month at Cardinal Ritter College Prep.
Doretha Williams, director of the Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History at the National Museum of African American History and Culture told St. Louis on the Air that the effort is a heavy lift, with nearly 100 archivists and historians coming to town within the coming weeks.
“We bring all the equipment that's used to digitize VHS tapes and cassettes and films and what have you. Many of those pieces are running out of time, so we have to preserve those stories that are on there,” Williams said. “Whether it's your grandmother doing oral history, or whether it's a high school graduation on VHS.”
The digitization of audiovisual artifacts will take place at Cardinal Ritter starting September 7. April Brown, director of Internship Management and HR Solution said the opportunity to host the Smithsonian at her predominantly Black Catholic alma mater is exciting for faculty and students alike.
“They're excited about working with students on projects and having to preserve some of Cardinal Ritter's history as well,” Brown said. “Even at 45 years old, [Cardinal Ritter has] some things that we definitely would like to digitize, because 45 years is a long time, and technology has changed drastically.”
St. Louisans with artifacts of Black history and culture that wish to have them digitized can register for on the Smithsonian's community curation website for the St. Louis area, where they detail the kinds of items that they are able to digitize for personal historical reference.
There’s also a schedule for community talks, training and film screenings in St. Louis and the Metro East.
“When we get to a community we just embrace everyone, and everyone embraces us. That's why we're here,” Williams said.
Related Event
What: Community Curation in St. Louis with the National Museum of African American History and Culture
When: Sept. 7 - 29, 2024
Where: Cardinal Ritter College Prep (701 N Spring Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108)
For more about community curation, preserving Black history and culture and the region-wide events hosted by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Ulaa Kuziez, Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
