Cataloging San Diego's black history through photographs

[FreeState]

Thought this was interesting. San Diego, despite being a previous bastion of the right wing, has a vibrant and active black community that goes back a long way.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/oct/27/cataloging-san-diegos-black-history-through-photog/

LINCOLN PARK — It’s been two decades since the family of Norman Baynard donated 20,000 photographs depicting the city’s black community from the 1940s to 1980s. Now, the San Diego History Center is launching an ambitious effort to inventory its collection and assess its conservation needs.

The History Center, through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, also will employ several strategies — from church visits to online photo tagging — to engage the black community in identifying the subjects of the 500 images chosen for its cataloging and digitizing effort.

“This is an incredible collection of photographs that are important not just from a regional perspective, but also from a national perspective,” said David Kahn, director of the San Diego Historical Society. “When I got here I asked people in different areas of the institution, ‘What are some of our great treasures?’ This, rightly so, was one of the collections that was identified.”

The collection includes images of homes, businesses, street scenes, churches, weddings, sports, political and civic functions, funerals, weddings and Black Muslim groups. There’s everything from photographs of President Harry Truman to shots of Muhammad Ali....


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[Kind of Blue]

1. Really fantastic. Thanks for the heads up.

I can't help with identifying the photos - came here 14years ago - but I surely want to see the collection. I love the little darlings at the b'day party.

[bliss_eternal]

2. wish i had seen this sooner...

so i could have taken a road trip, to san diego. thanks for the information, freestate--it was nice of you to share. :)