National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Awarded

The Library is the recipient of a grant ($10,700) from the National Endowment for the Humanities under their Common Heritage program. The grant project seeks to
digitize privately held materials that document the experience of African Americans in Galesburg. Themes about African Americans to be explored include civic, social, religious and business life; participation in wars; prejudice and discrimination; segregation; public education; and voting rights. Materials discovered during community “digitization days” will enrich the existing digital repository Struggle and Progress: African Americans in Knox County, Illinois. Associated humanities events will be offered over the 18 month grant period: screening of a video produced from the community digitization days, a lecture on the history of African Americans in Galesburg, and an Oral History Story Day and more.