The Collecting Community History Initiative: The West During COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter

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Project Members: Tyree Boyd-Pates of The Autry Museum of the American West, Dr. Stephen Aron, Dr. Brenda Stevenson

In 2020, the Autry Museum of the American West launched The Collecting Community History Initiative (TCCHI): The West During COVID-19, which aims to help communities across the West identify and preserve items of historical and cultural significance during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the Autry expanded the project to collect and contextualize artifacts related to the “Black Lives Matter” protests that have erupted across the West (as well as the nation and the world).

This project will involve developing a UCLA seminar about the initiative, curation, and community engagement. It will also involve a series of public programs about plagues and protests, past and present. Click here to read about this project and the project members.