COLUMBUS, Ind. — From history to movies to jazz to a downtown tour, Bartholomew County’s Black heritage steps to the forefront beginning today via a new, first-of its-kind website and calendar to mark February as Black History Month.
The project was first unveiled at the recent Rev. Martin Luther King Day Annual Breakfast at The Commons.
“Out of more than 50 events, there’s something on there for everyone to enjoy,” said Lori Thompson, one of the organizers of blackhistorycolumbus.com.
Creators say the site is meant to be a way to build bridges among the area’s different ethnicities, and to strengthen understanding among a cosmopolitan community with international employers here. Input came from players as diverse as Exhibit Columbus, Columbus Regional Health, Cummins, the African American Fund of Bartholomew County, and elsewhere, according to organizers.
And response was swift when founder Whittney Wood-Gaines and her cohorts reached out to leading community agencies beginning in December.
“The excitement was immediately there,” Thompson said. “And I like to say that it went viral. It was a great idea.
” … And people were excited about being asked to be included.”
Thompson added that the website “is necessary as a landing pad to get the community’s various groups together to people ‘We have something worthy to share with everyone.’”
Bishop Johnnie Edwards, president of the Columbus/Bartholomew County Branch of the NAACP, loves the tool that the website can become.
“We have needed to find a way to educate all when it comes to Black history,” Edwards said. “And now having this calendar gives our community the opportunity to learn, engage and participate in our local Black history so that they can indeed become more educated on true history overall.”
For the complete story and more photos, see Wednesday’s Republic.
