CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. – A new historical collection is coming to the Montgomery Museum of Art and History soon.
On Tuesday, the Montgomery Museum of Art and History said the NAACP will present its Black History Collection to the museum in August.
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According to the release, the purpose of the collection is to make local African American history more accessible to the community by providing resources to local museums, and community members can conduct research and experience local history.
And on August 11 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., museum officials said they will be hosting an open house with its summer Membership Mingle, and at 6 p.m., the NAACP MRF Branch will formally present the collection to the museum.
The event will be held at the museum’s new location at 4 East Main Street in Christiansburg, the release said.
Organization leaders are happy to see the collection be presented and made available to the public.
“We are honored to partner with the Montgomery County-Radford City-Floyd County Branch of the NAACP to make African American history and culture more accessible to all within the New River Valley,” said Casey Jenkins, Executive Director of the Montgomery Museum.
Deborah Travis, President of the NAACP Branch, echoed that statement.
“This project would not have been possible without the support of the community,” Travis said. “We are excited to make these materials available through the museum and embrace the value it will bring to our community.”
An important part of history, and the community even helped curate the content.
The collection was curated by the Education Committee with curators of local history museums, and with professors from Virginia Tech and Radford University, according to the release.
And, the release said the collection was made possible through the help of community members who bought books and donated them.
With two parts, the collection comes to life: 25 books tell the history of African Americans in the New River Valley and Appalachia, and 8 booklets focus on the New River Valley and the lived experiences of those in Montgomery County, Floyd County, Pulaski County, and Radford City, according to the release.
Community members can find a wide variety of topics included in the collection, including coal mining, local education, slavery and segregation, massive resistance, and reconciliation, museum officials said.
Not only will there be printed material available in the collection, but the release said there will also be QR codes to access audio recordings of histories.
You can learn more about the Montgomery Museum of Art and History here.