Here's a video on a project I've worked on for the past year and a half: a Black Heritage Trail

[femmedem]

One of the most meaningful things I've ever done professionally has been collaborating on a fifteen-site Black Heritage Trail. Our local paper, The Day, put together a wonderful video on its unveiling:

The sites cover three centuries of Black resilience, resistance and achievement, beginning with Robert Jacklin, whose purchasing of property in the early 1700s sparked an emergency meeting of town leaders to oppose Black property ownership and ending with Spencer Lancaster, a civil rights leader and our city's first Black elected official.

[mopinko]

1. inspiring.

good job.

[femmedem]

2. Thank you. I hope it will inspire others to do something similar.

Even if you aren't lucky enough to live in a city with a progressive government willing to fund a similar trail, people can start by researching and publicizing one site, maybe with a lecture or a website. We researched one site because the building owned by a mid-19th century Black whaler was threatened when a developer wanted to purchase it and the surrounding properties to demo them for a big box store. We had already researched Sadie D. Harrison, who wrote the only precursor to the Negro Motorist Green Book and whose listings of places where Black travelers could find overnight accommodations in three hundred cities all showed up in the early Green Books. We had hosted a lecture on Ichabod Pease--who was born into slavery in 1755 and who opened a school for New London's Black children when he was eighty-one years old--as a fundraiser to restore his gravestone. But we took those steps without dreaming that they would inspire a full trail. So I would say to anyone interested in historical research, take a step, any step. You never know where that step will lead.

[70sEraVet]

7. I very much appreciate the encouragement of 'take a step', femmedem!

[mopinko]

13. i've actually been dreaming of a project on a woman artist.

a bit bigger, a museum. not likely, but her (and my) childhood home is on the market at the moment. it's such a glorious old home, and a real part of the local history that deserves to be remembered. i have gotten to know her biographer, and this is her idea.

her name is ruth van sickle ford, and she was a force of nature. quite renowned in her time, but largely forgotten. the house that her and her husband built when they moved out of that house is on the national register.
but she didnt suffer fools at all, and i honestly think that is why she is forgotten. except for the stories about the people she shredded. those stories are remembered.

i cant seem to find a link to the listing that isnt crazy, but take a look.

https://www.redfin.com/IL/Aurora/480-N-Lake-St-60506/home/12579482?&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&utm_campaign=1023880&utm_term=dsa-1341488498376&utm_content=454669090458&adgid=111663014128&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-4SLBhCVARIsACrhWLV0-uy1UtFjpAcYA09GTJxYwuEFVLKFDNuUhBsz-skVR9JbO6GDoMMaAk2LEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

[femmedem]

16. It is a beautiful house! And her paintings depict small town Illinois life so beautifully.

It sounds as if she is overdue for rediscovery.

[mopinko]

19. she went all over the world.

she may be better remembered in haiti than her home town. it was her favorite local, and she had a show at the national museum. she was friends w the president at the time.
but she traveled every chance she got. cities, small towns, country and nature. all of it. and some crazy beautiful still lives, too. she mostly did water colors, but her oils are to die for. i have a very early one, but i confess it is not my favorite work. the later ones shine.

she was just a painting machine. her works are pretty widely available and not expensive. i dont think she charged much at the time, because i know she lost money at it.
she gave them away freely, too. i have a dozen of them, and one was a xmas gift to the grocer at the little store a couple blocks away.

here's a link to a book about her-http://ruthvansickleford.com/index.html
the author is the one who put this bug in my ear.

[femmedem]

21. I was surprised to see how inexpensive her paintings are.

Has the author done any lectures? Maybe either a local museum, gallery or historical society would sponsor one. That might be a step towards building support for a future museum.

[mopinko]

22. she does give talks.

i dont know how much nancy has put into making this happen. but i do think there would be a lot of support. she recently lost her husband after a long illness, so i think she might just jump into this to keep herself occupied.

that whole stretch of street there is slowly going commercial. so far they are repurposing houses, but it's just a matter of time. the town is at that stage of it's life where the old stuff starts to come down. it's between downtown and one of the country's first shopping malls. that goes on for miles now.

here's the house she moved to. it's on the outskirts of town, across from the country club where sam spent his days golfing. got to go in it, finally, a while back. on the natl register.

http://hiddenarchitecture.net/ruth-and-sam-ford-house/

[femmedem]

23. What an amazing house.

It's too bad that Illinois doesn't protect properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places the way Connecticut does. In Connecticut, they are considered resources in which the public has a trust, just like clean air and clean water, and are protected from demolition if there is a feasible alternative.

[alphafemale]

3. Seeing these places is something I intend to do.

I have visited some.

[femmedem]

4. How wonderful! Here's a website with information on all the sites:

https://visitnewlondon.org/black-heritage-trail/

[alphafemale]

5. Thank you. nt

[tulipsandroses]

6. Thanks for posting. Some good news for a change

About recognizing black history which is American history

[femmedem]

8. You're welcome! The historic preservation movement is changing.

Nationwide, people are understanding that we need to uncover and honor these sites and the histories they embody, and that you can't understand American history without understanding Black history.

[barbtries]

9. well done.

i was moved.

[femmedem]

10. Thank you. A lot of us were teary-eyed at Spencer Lancaster's house. n/t

[MLAA]

11. Simply wonderful. Just wonderful.

What an excellent endeavor to identify and recognize Black leaders nearly lost to history. Must have been a real labor of love for you. How special to have worked on something that will out live you and be a beacon for many to follow.

[femmedem]

12. Thanks, MLAA. Yes, it was a labor of love for everyone involved.

Even the city's sole sign installer who worked through his weekends to install the plaques in time for the ceremony.

Sometimes I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to do this professionally.

[malaise]

14. Magnificent

I shed a tear of gratitude. Thank you

[femmedem]

18. Oh Malaise! Thank you!

I'm glad that this project can move people who don't live here as it has moved our community.

[blm]

17. Wonderful.

You deserve to feel pride, it’s a great project.

[femmedem]

20. Thank you so much, blm.

We're all feeling a little overwhelmed to see it come to fruition, and we all feel honored to have been entrusted with this work.