Grout Museum District Collaborates on Iowa Black Voices Digitization Project
Posted
by Nick Erickson
on Thursday, May 26, 2022
The Grout Museum District is excited to announce their participation in a three-year project with the Iowa State University Library, the African American Museum of Iowa, and five partner organizations to digitize and make publicly available over 6,000 pieces of material culture highlighting the impact of Black communities across Iowa.
“Amplifying Black Voices in Iowa” is funded by a $179,000 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) Digitizing Hidden Collections: Amplifying Unheard Voices program.
This project is the first of its kind in Iowa and will result in collaborative community programs, educational and curriculum support, and academic research projects and initiatives from February 2024 to May 2025.
The 6,000 pieces to be digitized and made public include newspapers, manuscripts, oral histories, photographs, and artifacts dating back to the mid-1800s. They are held in the collections of all participating organizations, including the Iowa State University Library, African American Museums of Iowa, Des Moines Public Library, Fort Des Moines Museum and Education Center, Grinnell College Libraries, Grout Museum District, Nodaway Valley Historical Museum, and State Historical Society of Iowa.
If you and your educational institution would like to learn how you might benefit from the results of this program, contact Registrar Nick Erickson at the Grout Museum District, nicholas.erickson@gmdistrict.org.
For more information, contact: