What might be lost if we don’t capture the living memories that are still present with people?
—B. Bernetiae Reed, historian
These words, and the documentarian sentiment that animates them, are the driving force behind the ongoing collaborative project Conversations in Black. A shared approach to memory keeping, Conversations in Black seeks to digitize historical photographs and ephemera submitted by long-time Black residents of Greensboro and to make this content widely accessible in order to broaden everyone’s knowledge of the city’s rich heritage.
The photographs on view here were selected from that project for their connections to the exhibition Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. Similar to the themes highlighted in that show, these photographs depict cultural figures, educators and scientists, political leaders, and everyday people whose civic service shaped the city. Drawn from community-contributed collections, they provide entry points for conversations about recent Greensboro history. We invite visitors to contribute to this record and leave their mark by sharing their own stories as well.
This exhibition is presented in collaboration with Conversations in Black: African American History and Heritage, Greensboro, N.C., and the UNCG University Libraries’ Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives.
