Activating Local Black History

An NU-Shorefront-Community Partnership

About the Project

A partnership between Shorefront Legacy Center and Northwestern University supported by a Racial Equity and Community Partnership Grant, this project aims to further Shorefront’s work of preserving, interpreting, and publicizing the history of Black people in Evanston and the North Shore. A portion of the project grant will be used to hire archival staff at Shorefront to facilitate processing of the collections.

Another important part of the grant is activating Shorefront’s collections – this means getting people into the archive to explore what’s there, analyze materials, and publicize their findings. By forming a research board of NU and community researchers, we hope to activate some of the essential collections in Shorefront’s archives, spread the word about their meaning and significance, and lay the foundation for further collaboration between Shorefront, Northwestern, and the wider Evanston community.

Who We Are

Project Team

Laurice Bell, Executive Director, Shorefront Legacy Center

Ruth Curry, Program Administrator at the Center for Civic Engagement, Northwestern

Jojo Galven Mora, PhD Student in History, Northwestern

Kate Masur, Professor of History, Northwestern

Research Board

Colette Allen, Former Director of Family Focus Evanston

Shannon Paige Clark, Research Affiliate in Black Studies, Northwestern

Brett Gadsden, Associate Professor of History, Northwestern

Cheryl Johnson-Odim, Historian

Kate Masur, Professor of History, Northwestern

Yujay Masah, Black Studies Librarian, Northwestern

Drew Meinecke, PhD Student in History, Northwestern

Catherine Ndovu, Undergraduate, Northwestern

Makoto Ogura, History and Social Studies Teacher, Evanston Township High School

Nicole Parker, Chair of the History Department, Evanston Township High School

Rhiana Ruddock, Student, Evanston Township High School

kihana miraya ross, Assistant Professor of Black Studies, Northwestern

Mikala Stokes, PhD Candidate in History, Northwestern

Research Board Responsibilities

We ask board members to commit to the following activities:

  • Participate in an orientation to Shorefront and local Black history on Saturday, October 19 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  • Participate in a one-on-one consultation about a potential research project at Shorefront.
  • Visit Shorefront at least three times during the 2024-25 academic year and develop and execute a modest research project that you will complete no later than June 13. (The project itself can take any form, including an article or essay, web display, oral history, short film, etc.)
  • Attend two board meetings during the course of the year (one for interim reporting on research projects, and one to plan the symposium).
  • Present a synopsis of your research project at the symposium on Saturday, April 26, 2025.

Resources

On Shorefront

  • Shorefront website, Shorefront Journal, and Shorefront Voice (oral histories)
  • Partner Spotlight: Shorefront Legacy Center | Illinois Humanities
  • “The Nation’s First Municipal Reparations Program, Grounded in Black History” | Mellon Foundation
  • “Students interview Black Evanston residents who are first in the nation to receive reparations” | WBEZ Chicago

On Archives