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Program

Preservation and Access: Common Heritage

Period of Performance

1/1/2016 - 12/31/2016

Funding Totals

$12,000.00 (approved)
$11,623.51 (awarded)

Kansas City Digital Encyclopedia Project: Jazz Age and the Great Depression, 1918 - 1941

FAIN: PY-234453-16

Black Archives of Mid-America, Inc. (Kansas City, MO 64108-1644)
Glenn North (Project Director: June 2015 to September 2017)

The digitization of community photographs, letters, employment records, artworks, and artifacts pertaining to the African American experience in Kansas City, Missouri, during the early 20th century. The applicant would collaborate with the Kansas City Public Library, which would make the sources accessible via its Kansas City Digital Encyclopedia Project. The Library would also ensure that digital items could be found through the WorldCat bibliographic network as well as the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA). In cooperation with the American Jazz Museum of Kansas City, the applicant would also offer public lectures by area scholars and musicians about the history of Kansas City in the Jazz Age and Great Depression and would sponsor screenings of films held by the Jazz Museum, including the documentary “Women in Jazz.”

The Black Archives of Mid-America is an institution that showcases Kansas City’s rich socio-cultural history through the preservation of valuable documents, photographs and objects. Through a strategic alliance with the award-winning Kansas City Public Library, it has increased its ability to present insightful scholarly and artistic programming to the Midwest region of the United States and beyond. This exciting partnership calls for the Black Archives of Mid-America to support the Kansas City Public Library in the “Kansas City Digital Encyclopedia Project.” The next planned series will highlight the period of 1918-1941, with a specialized focus on the Jazz Age and the Great Depression, and will be supported through community digitization events and associated programming. This project exposes community members to important historical information and allows participants to protect the integrity of artifacts through digitization, while further developing a sense of belonging.