From Warehouse To Web: Digitizing House Music Ephemera and Material Culture

FAIN: PY-258704-18

Links Hall, Inc. (Chicago, IL 60618-6409)
Meida McNeal (Project Director: June 2017 to March 2021)

A digitization day and a public symposium focused on the history and material culture of African American house music, dance, and culture in Chicago from the late 1970s to the end of the twentieth century. The events would solicit photographs, posters, flyers, clothing, and other materials that document the history of this music scene. In addition, events would provide tutorials on the preservation of various heritage materials. With donor permission, digitized items would be accessioned by the archives of the Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) at Columbia College Chicago. Historians from the CBMR would also provide historical context about the history of African American music in Chicago.

From Warehouse to Web will establish a foundation from which leaders can continue to develop programming opportunities for archiving and sharing digital ephemera from the house music era beginning in the 1970s and 1980s evolving to the present, as well as creative documentation of sartorial expressions. Project collaborators Center for Black Music Research, Modern Dance Music and Archiving Foundation, Links Hall, and Honey Pot Performance will create stable, variable types of digital access through online platforms. It is essential that these vital records of Chicago, American, and queer of color cultural history are preserved and shared in years to come. By creating new access points to previously balkanized private collections of historical materials, Warehouse to Web will do something entirely new for Chicago’s grassroots house music communities, who have yet to see an approach that honors everyday participants in the culture, as opposed to the most popular and profitable artists.

Associated Products

Black Social Culture Map (prototype) (Web Resource)
Title: Black Social Culture Map (prototype)
Author: Abra Johnson
Author: Meida McNeal
Author: Marlon Billups
Abstract: The Chicago Black Social Culture Map is an online public humanities project documenting Black social culture from the Great Migration through the early 21st century with a focus on the emergence of house music and dance in the 1980s. The map features profiles for over 350 different venues, including basic information, first-person stories, and supplemental media, all collected through collaborative community research. The CBSCM exists to preserve Chicago's black social cultural lineage - past, present, and future - through an experience that is both fun and informative. In Fall 2018, we launched this interactive digital initiative with a community archiving day including panel discussions, archiving stations, and hands on demonstrations of the online map. In 2019, we are growing that experience into a series of roving map and archiving days focused on the social scene across the city’s South, West, and North sides. Each day features public spaces, personalities, and cultural history connected to specific city geographies.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://mappingartsproject.org/chicago/
Primary URL Description: Chicago maps the city’s social cultures from the 20th century’s Great Black Migration through the present day.

Honey Pot Performance Mapping Panel 1, Chicago Radio & Recording Industry (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Honey Pot Performance Mapping Panel 1, Chicago Radio & Recording Industry
Abstract: Chicago Radio & Recording Industry Chicago has a rich history of producing and disseminating Black Music. From Gospel to Blues to House Music, Chicago has been in the forefront of ensuring the world is made aware of great music. From Alligator Records and Chess Records to Trax Records, Chicago’s recording industry provides tremendous insight on the cultural spaces their artists frequented. Moderator: Ayana Contreras Panelists: Braxton Holmes Khris Hutchinson Hugo H.
Author: Braxton Holmes
Author: Khris Hutchinson
Author: Hugo H.
Author: Ayana Contreras
Date: 04/21/2019
Location: Links Hall
Primary URL: https://youtu.be/uCZ6tDA5_jI
Primary URL Description: Chicago Radio & Recording Industry Chicago has a rich history of producing and disseminating Black Music. From Gospel to Blues to House Music, Chicago has been in the forefront of ensuring the world is made aware of great music. From Alligator Records and Chess Records to Trax Records, Chicago’s recording industry provides tremendous insight on the cultural spaces their artists frequented. Moderator: Ayana Contreras Panelists: Braxton Holmes Khris Hutchinson Hugo H.

---