Expanding Voices of Trumbull County Project
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Volume 36 Issue 4 July/August 2020 Expanding Voices of Trumbull County Project by Sarah Moell, Education & Outreach only held 10 items in our collection that TCHS Education & Outreach Manager Sarah Manager, Trumbull County Historical Society; represented the Black community. With Moell and Steering Committee members and OLHA Region 4 Representative Frederick Harris and Stacey Adger while a Black population of roughly 30% in presenting on the Voices project for the Warren, that was unacceptable. We had he Trumbull County Historical History Across the Humanities conference a lot of listening and learning to do.” Society (TCHS), a community- at Youngstown State University. based nonprofit located in In 2017, TCHS received a planning Warren, Ohio, is tackling issues grant from Ohio Humanities to begin Tof diversity and inclusion that face many looking at a potential oral history project WHAT’S INSIDE: historical societies today. In June 2020, more thoroughly. Knowing that they TCHS launched the Voices Oral History needed to begin building their own 3 Expanding Voices (con't) Project, an initiative that created strategic knowledge of Warren’s Black history partnerships to preserve the memories as well as begin speaking with those 4 Annual Meeting Update of elders in Warren’s Black community. within the Black community, TCHS reached out to residents, attended 5 America 250 Planning In 2017, after hiring its first full-time neighborhood meetings and community employee in its 177-year history, TCHS events, and talked with active nonprofits 7 A Time in History Preserved began the soul-searching process of in the Warren area. It was clear that ensuring that they truly represented there was a need for this project and a 8 People in the News their entire community. It was quickly desire to show the community at large apparent that, like so many collecting Announcements how racism and informal segregation, 9 institutions today, the TCHS collections, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s, archives, and programs were telling 11 On the Web affected the community even today. the history of a wealthy elite that was not relatable to residents today. To implement the project, TCHS 15 News from the successfully applied to The Raymond “Nonprofits like TCHS are tax exempt Regions John Wean Foundation’s Community because we provide services to the Investment program, who also provides New & Renewing community. The WHOLE community,” 16 Race, Equity, and Inclusion training Members | Calendar says Director Meghan Reed. “In 2017, we (continued on page 3) bottom of “continued from page x” block 2020 Board Members top of text Ohio Local History Alliance text block starts here under “continued from“ banner PRESIDENT REGION 1 REGION 6 Text box starts here under title block Wendy Zucal Amy Craft Nina Thomas Executive Director Director Museum Specialist Dennison Railroad Depot Museum, Dennison Allen County Museum & Historical Society, Lima Anti-Saloon League Museum/Westerville Public Library, (740) 922-6776 419-222-9426 Westerville [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] dennisondepot.org www.allencountymuseum.org www.westervillelibrary.org/AntiSaloon/ John Swearingen, Jr. Deborah Lowe Wright 1ST VICE PRESIDENT Museum of Fulton County, Wauseon Founder and Director Christy Davis 419-337-7922 Pickaway County African-American Heritage Association, Curator of Exhibitions [email protected] Circleville Canton Museum of Art, Canton www.museumoffultoncounty.org 740-601-4969 [email protected] [email protected] www.cantonart.org REGION 2 REGION 7 Julie Mayle 2ND VICE PRESIDENT Associate Curator of Manuscripts Melissa Shaw Leslie Wagner Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums, Curator, Collections Management Division Historian Fremont National Museum of the United States Air Force The Dawes Arboretum, Newark 419-332-2081 Wright-Patterson Air Force Base 740-323-2355 x1256 [email protected] (937) 255-8839 [email protected] www.rbhayes.org [email protected] www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/ http://dawesarb.org/ Ronald I. Marvin, Jr. Director Natalie Fritz SECRETARY Wyandot County Historical Society Curator of Library and Archives Rebecca Urban 419-294-3857 443-510-5162 Clark County Historical Society,Springfield Peninsula Foundation, Peninsula [email protected] 937-324-0657 x234 (330) 657-2528 www.wyandothistory.org/ [email protected] [email protected] REGION 3 REGION 8 TREASURER Greg Palumbo Ed Creighton Kathleen Fernandez Director Butler County Historical Society, Hamilton Historian and Museum Consultant Lakewood Historical Society, Lakewood (513) 324-5942 North Canton (216) 221-7343 (513) 756-1515 [email protected] [email protected] TRUSTEES-AT-LARGE Leianne Neff Heppner Terrie Puckett Jack Blosser President & CEO The Grail in the US, Loveland (513) 683-2340 [email protected] Summit County Historical Society, Akron (330) 535-1120 [email protected] Timothy Daley [email protected] www.grail-us.org/where-we-are/grailville Executive Director Cuyahoga County Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument, REGION 4 REGION 9 Cleveland (216) 621-3710 Lisa Hoerig Brad Davis [email protected] Newton Falls Preservation Foundation Collections Manager/Registrar www.soldiersandsailors.com [email protected] Southeast Ohio History Center, Athens www.nfpreservation.org/ 740-592-2280 ext. 104 Melissa Karman [email protected] Director Sarah Moell The Sutliff Museum, Warren Education and Outreach Manager Ann Cramer (330) 395-6575 Trumbull County Historical Society, Warren Hocking County Historical Society, Logan [email protected] 330-394-4653 740-590-6023 http://www.sutliffmuseum.org/ [email protected] [email protected] www.trumbullcountyhistory.org hockingcountyhistorymuseum.org/ IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT REGION 5 REGION 10 Todd McCormick Curator/Director Shelagh Pruni Kyle Yoho Logan County Historical Society, Bellefontaine Director Education Director (937) 593-7557 Reeves Museum, Dover The Castle Historic House Museum, Marietta [email protected] (330) 343-7040 740-373-4180 www.loganhistory.org [email protected] [email protected] www.doverhistory.org www.mariettacastle.org EX-OFFICIO Bailey Yoder Brenda Davis (EXECUTIVE SECRETARY) Curator of Football Heritage Trustee and Secretary Massillon Museum, Massillon Walhonding Valley Historical Society Dr. Betsy Hedler 330-833-4061, ex. 116 Warsaw Partnerships Coordinator, Local History Services [email protected] 740.824.4000 Ohio History Connection, Columbus www.massillonmuseum.org 740.824.3872 (614) 297-2538 [email protected] [email protected] www.wvhistoricalsociety.org/ www.ohiohistory.org The Local Historian | July/August 2020 2 Expanding Voices of Trumbull County (continued from page 1) bottom of “continued from page x” block top of text text block starts here under “continued from“ banner Text box starts here under title block Interviewees Charles Arnold, Michalene Hughley, and Robert Saffold during the Voices soft Interviewees Eugene Dawson and Maddie opening during a Black History Month event in February 2020. Photo courtesy of Cheryl Battle during the Voices soft opening during Saffold. a Black History Month event in February 2020. Photo courtesy of Cheryl Saffold. to nonprofit and educational leaders in Adger, along with Harris and three the Mahoning Valley. Through these other steering committee members, members to sign up to interview or to funds, TCHS was able to form a steering completed 17 interviews out of a list be interviewed, and will eventually committee comprised of Black residents of 45 people before COVID-19 paused hold a gallery of items that were and also hire an Education & Outreach the interview process in March. scanned during a black history month community event held back in February. Manager who worked with the steering The interviews touch on a wide range committee to begin developing the of topics. The interviewees include those “Our next steps are to continue framework for this project. Led by the who worked in Warren’s steel mills when conducting interviews and adding wisdom of Frederick Harris, a community they were still segregated, successful them to the website as COVID-19 historian who had started collecting sports stars, Civil Rights activists, restrictions allow,” said Education & the experiences of Black community and include memories of family life, Outreach Manager Sarah Moell. “After members more than 30 years ago, the moving to Warren from the South, and that is done, our next goal is to create steering committee created the interview racism seen by local law enforcement. educational resources for teachers to questions, chose the interviewees, easily integrate the interviews into their “The memories of segregation and completed technical training from staff, classrooms. Getting this knowledge the Civil Rights Movement are so and ultimately conducted the interviews into the schools is a top priority.” to be curated onto a Voices website. impactful,” said Reed. “For instance, I did not know that our local NAACP Steering committee member Stacey chapter sued the City of Warren in the Adger joined this project as a local 1940s to desegregate our municipal genealogist. “There are so many life Packard Pool. The case made its way stories that have been silenced over the all the way to the state supreme court, years,” she explains. “Each ancestor who where Thurgood Marshall successfully passes away takes their unique