Mud Creek Archive receives $6,000 grant for creation of Huntsville Black Business District archive
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama (June 29, 2021) - A $6,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greater Huntsville will allow local historic preservation organization Mud Creek Archive to develop an archive of Huntsville Black Business District history.
Mud Creek Archive seeks to collect information about the historic Black businesses that were located on Holmes Avenue, Church Street, and Jefferson Street in Huntsville, Alabama from the period of Reconstruction to the late 1970s.
Stakeholder interviews will help inform a research process that investigates interviews, government records, letters, diaries, newspaper articles, and more. The resulting information will be collated, uploaded into a database, and made available to the public through an interactive website created to document the district’s history and educate the public. It is anticipated this will become a repository for all information related to this area and an important part of Black history.
“For much of the 20th century, Church Street, Holmes Avenue and Jefferson Street formed a special place for Huntsville’s Black community as its Black Business District. By the late 1970s, most Black businesses and churches here were displaced,” noted Chauncey Robinson, Founder of Mud Creek Archive. “A gap in public, accessible information about this significant time in history exists. We’re hoping to fill that gap.”
The research process will begin immediately and Robinson hopes to make the website available by Spring of 2022. The archive will be updated regularly based on ongoing research, public feedback, and website analytics.
About Mud Creek Archive
Founded by Chauncey Robinson, with a goal of providing members of his community with an opportunity to identify their roots and ancestry, Mud Creek Archive provides African-American genealogical study and education in Northern Alabama. More information can be found online at mudcreekarchive.org.
Contact:
Chauncey Robinson, Founder, Mud Creek Archive
312-213-2536, info@mudcreekarchive.org
