DuSable Black History Museum launches community archival project

The DuSable Black History Museum and Education has launched “A Call for Artifacts,” an interactive archival project designed to preserve family histories within Black communities. The initiative invites community members to share personal belongings—such as clothing, photographs, jewelry, books, and music—which museum staff will professionally document through scanning, historical research, and oral or on-camera testimony.

Participants retain ownership of their property, but selected items will be included in The Black Community Archive on the museum’s website. The project aims to recognize community members as custodians of history, emphasizing that ordinary possessions paired with extraordinary stories can document significant cultural movements, migrations, and historical moments.

This effort follows a long tradition of preserving Black history outside of traditional institutional frameworks. Historically, much of this record has been maintained through family albums, church records, and neighborhood institutions. Notable precedents include Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, whose collection formed the foundation of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, and recent initiatives by Columbia University’s Institute for Research in African American Studies to support local community archival sites.