Courtesy of the Alexandria Black History Museum
Ferdinand T. Day, Annie B. Rose, Ben Holt and Moss H. Kendrix.
The Alexandria Black History Museum, which is part of the Office of Historic Alexandria, announced Friday that they received a $243,356 grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Museum Grants for African American History and Culture.
According to their website, the mission of IMLS is to "advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development."
The announcement could not have come at a better time, with the annual holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States, Juneteenth, coming up this Saturday.
“This highly competitive and generous grant from IMLS will enable the Alexandria Black History Museum to digitize, interpret, and make four important archival collections publicly accessible,” said Audrey P. Davis, Director of the Alexandria Black History Museum.
The grant will fund a multi-year project to digitize documents, photographs, objects and other materials in the museum’s collection from Alexandrian activists Ferdinand T. Day and Annie B. Rose, Washingtonian opera singer Ben Holt, and public relations icon Moss H. Kendrix. The digitization will allow for great public access to the collection through the creation of 20,000 records with images. The project will culminate in an exhibition on public relations icon Moss H. Kendrix, which is expected to open in spring 2023.
In addition, there will be a series of small online exhibitions that will explore the stories of these four individuals through the theme of civil rights and equity
“Support from IMLS permits us share Alexandria’s vibrant African American history with new and wider audiences as well as educate future generations about Black excellence and achievement in Alexandria,” said Gretchen Bulova, Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria.
