Joliet museum asks for artifacts on local Black history

The Joliet Area Historical Museum will host an event on Saturday in which the public can bring in photographs and artifacts depicting the history of the Black experience in the Joliet area.

The “History in Our Hands” event will be 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the museum, located at 204 N. Ottawa St. in downtown Joliet.

Area residents are asked to bring photographs, artifacts and “archival material” to depict local Black history.

Materials can be scanned on-site so people can take them home or donated to the museum, according to an announcement of the event. The museum also will accept donated materials.

Co-sponsors of the events are the Joliet Area African-American Context Study, a project to document local Black history, and the History on Wheels Museum, a museum being created in Joliet to exhibit Black Americans' service in the United States military.

The event will include a presentation at 11:30 a.m. by H’Aeneise Coopwood titled “History in Our Hands: Agency and the Preservation of Black History in Joliet, IL.”

Admission is free.

The museum encourages people who bring artifacts to pre-register them by emailing collections@jolietmuseum.org.