Watch the video here: Tucson woman identifies locations with ties to African American history (kold.com)
The City of Tucson, through a Certified Local Government Grant, contracted with WestLand to conduct a city-wide survey of historic properties associated with Tucson’s African American community. The first phase of the two-phase project was recently completed. The first phase resulted in a 143-page document that inventoried 59 locations (buildings, structures, sites, and landscapes) built prior to 1978 that are associated with its African American community. The inventory will serve as an informational and management tool to identify and preserve Tucson’s African American resources as well as provide a strategy to prioritize and identify areas for further study. The project was completed with the support and help of Jodie Brown, City of Tucson Historic Preservation Officer, and many members of Tucson’s African American community, including but not limited to, African American history scholar Bernard J. Wilson; Mount Calvary Baptist Church parishioner and historian Jacquenese Barnes; several board members of Tucson’s Juneteenth Festival Committee including Larry Starks, Jack Anderson, Ta Shara Jordan, and Lance Meeks; Barbara Lewis and Shirley Hockett from the Dunbar Coalition; graduate student staff of the African American Museum of Southern Arizona (AAMSAZ) and the Executive Director of the AAMSAZ, Beverly Elliot; Elaine Chrisolm and Mitch Eskritt of the Beacon Foundation; Richard and Doreen Davis; and Stacey Snowden.