Bringing Authenticity to Historical Narratives

The project team met up with staff of the Underground Railroad Museum at the AAAM Conference in August.

When I started in the Museum Studies graduate program at The George Washington University, my objective was to contribute to the power of museums to educate diverse audiences, many of which don’t always have significant access to well resourced, prestigious universities. But as I continued through my studies, my mission shifted to include projects and institutions aimed at platforming communal voices. Their efforts in turn have shaped a fuller, more authentic narrative that honors and invites community members to impart their own experiences to a collective memory.

Centering community voices in the historical narrative is at the heart of the work being done by the HBCU Radio Preservation Project. This approach to preserving the shared history of a place, along with the  project’s focus on HBCUs, is what drew me, as a Howard University graduate (‘21), to apply for the project’s graduate internship.

Examining a drawer full of CDs at Alabama A&M’s WJAB 90.9 FM

Throughout the summer, the HBCU RPP  team members offered me opportunities to build on my existing skillsets while engaging in new areas of preservation. I learned about  how environmental conditions can affect audio materials and how to properly collect, pack, and ship them. During our visit to Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC), I was also introduced to the processes and machinery used to clean, decipher, and play different forms of analog audio.

Chanah and narrator Tomietta Brown at North Carolina A&T University’s WNAA 90.1 FM

Participating in oral history interviews and visiting different cultural institutions further allowed me to understand the many ways communities contribute to and preserve their own histories. These experiences gave me a greater appreciation for the collaborative nature of preservation and the different forms that shared memory can take.

I appreciated my time interning with the HBCU Radio Preservation Project because the team introduced me to the unique ways audio can make history feel more personable and less intimidating. 

Having the chance to interview narrators Tomietta Brown and Chyna Black at North Carolina A&T’s WNAA 90.1 FM was one of the highlights of my internship. Hearing them vocalize their experiences and aspirations creates an intimate connection to the past that written records alone cannot always provide. The project’s work is especially important because HBCUs hold a wealth of history, talent, and Black pride. 

I hope to see this project and others like it continue to preserve our community histories for future generations.