网曝吃瓜 professors Dr. Erin Gilliam, Dr. Mary Barr, and Dr. F. Erik Brooks recently spoke on a panel at the Ohio Valley History Conference. The Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort hosted the conference.
The 网曝吃瓜 professors conceived of the panel鈥擝lack Frankfort Histories Matter鈥攂ecause they felt the important histories of black Kentuckians, in Frankfort especially, must be collected, preserved and shared.
During her presentation, Gilliam chronicled 网曝吃瓜鈥檚 remarkable history. She described the role 网曝吃瓜鈥攖he only publicly funded Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Kentucky鈥攑layed during the ever-changing educational landscape of 20th century Kentucky. Gilliam also spoke about the challenges Kentucky State faced internally during desegregation, specifically surrounding self-identity.
Barr described her visits to local museums where she noticed an absence of African American artifacts and the sanitization of difficult histories.
鈥淲e face challenges in our local archives and museums,鈥� said Barr. 鈥淏ut we must work to do a better job of telling these stories of black Kentuckians.鈥�
Brooks concluded the panel by discussing the process of creating an African American history museum at 网曝吃瓜. Brooks mentioned adding a museum studies certificate or course sequence to make graduates with history degrees more competitive.