Black History 101 Mobile Museum coming to Westerville - by Nina Thomas

We’re telling history by telling the full story, more of the story of everyone who lived here, not just certain people who were able to tell their stories”

– Clint Smith, How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

Members of the Westerville community were invited to participate in WeREAD, a community-wide book read called WeREAD through the newly formed organization WeRise. WeRise was founded in 2021 with the mission to lead collaborative anti-racism efforts that will drive change in Westerville.

The book for this year was How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith. The hope was that this community read would bring people together through dialogue and activities that center around racial justice.

As part of this conversation, WeRISE is sponsoring several community events including the Black History 101 Mobile Museum.

The Westerville History Museum is happy to partner with WeRISE to provide the space for this traveling museum on June 24 from 10-5pm, in the meeting rooms at the Westerville Public Library.

The mobile museum was founded by Dr. Khalid el-Hakim.  It includes a collection of over 10,000 original artifacts of Black memorabilia dating from the trans-Atlantic slave trade era to hip-hop culture. The collection includes rare artifacts representing categories like slavery, politics, Jim Crow, science, religion, education, music, sports, and civil rights.

We invite you to come see this mobile museum and engage in honest conversations about race and social justice in our community. 

To learn more about Black history specifically in Westerville, check out our new online guide that highlights some local Black historical figures.  We’re sharing stories about local Blacks who survived slavery, served in the military, gathered at the Bethel A.M.E. Church, made strides in education, stood up for injustice through activism, and owned and operated businesses in our community.  If you’ve lived in Westerville for a long time, I promise you’ll learn about people you haven’t heard of before!

- Nina Thomas