Black Lens staff
“Our Stories: Black Families in Spokane” will be a celebration of community and history at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture on June 28 from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. This free event results from a series of meetings beginning in fall 2023 between MAC staff, Julie Williamson Serquinia and Marsha Rooney (former Senior Curator of History at MAC), regarding ways to make the MAC museum and its programming more relevant and welcoming to all Spokane audiences. It will be the first in a series, according to a MAC release.
In preparation for the event, organizers are asking for loans from the community to augment the historic displays.
“I would love to see anything representing the East Side Youth Center or Hamp’s Camp (the Gospel Mission Youth Camp run by Rev. Mr. C.E. Hamp from 1962 until 2000),” Williamson Serquinia said in a release, “but we welcome any objects, photographs, menus, posters, or flyers that represent Black businesses or organizations from the 1920s through the 1960s.”
Anyone interested in learning more or contributing to the project may email: ourstories789@gmail.com.