Jacksonville African American History Museum opens
Learning Black history while growing up in Jacksonville Illinois during the 1960s seemed impossible for Art Wilson.
It wasn’t taught in schools or reflected locally so in order to learn the roots of his identity he had to educate himself.
But what Wilson discovered behind a wall in his mom's basement sparked even more curiosity. It was a diploma from the city’s first "official" high school dated 1877, belonging to a Black man.
“I wondered how a Black person graduated from a predominantly white high school in an area surrounded by the Klu Klux Klan in 1877?” Wilson said. “Turns out the guy was the first Black graduate from that school and then when I talked to my mom she said there were rumors of homes from the underground railroad in town which began my research."
Wilson’s research led to the discovery of seven out of nine local underground railroad homes and he began giving tours of them to the public in 1993. In January he purchased one of the sites, the Asa Talcott House, and transformed it into the city's first African American History Museum. The museum, at 859 Grove St., officially opened in June.
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Wilson purchased the building with a goal to expose younger generations to the Black history he never learned or saw around town while growing up.
“There are 11 murals painted on the walls downtown but they've never included anyone who was Black and famous from here at all,” he said.
It wasn’t until the museum's opening day that the city unveiled a mural originally suggested by Wilson, of Dr. Alonzo Kinnebrew, the first Black physician in the nation to build and operate a hospital which was located in Jacksonville.
Opening the museum at the Asa Talcott house was meaningful to Wilson because the site was once a safe haven for slaves. According to the Jacksonville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Talcott helped slaves fleeing the South by hiding them in his barn. He was also named by Benjamin Henderson, a free Black man and important conductor of the underground railroad, as someone to count on when he needed supplies.
The museum is set up as a historical event timeline, starting with the kitchen area that reflects what life was like for African Americans who had just come out of the Civil War. Other rooms include facts about the civil rights era, underground railroad, Juneteenth, Black Lives Matter and churches. Then there Wilson’s favorite, the Jacksonville honor room.
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“The honor room reflects local Blacks who went on to do tremendous things after leaving Jacksonville because in Jacksonville they didn’t get a chance to. There were several generations of Blacks that did really well here in education and sports but when they tried to get jobs they were turned down compared to their white counterparts,” he said. “Some history can be found in books and on websites but you can’t find the information about the people that went on to do something even though they came from a place that never allowed them to. That story needs to get out because children are impacted by what they see locally but they can come in here and challenge that.”
Most of the museum's information came from its director, Ruth Linear. Linear collected historical facts and images of events that happened in Jacksonville overtime and educated children at local schools.
“I carried this information in satchels and taught through pictures, and a lot of the students didn't realize that this stuff happened here. Some of the teachers didn’t know either because they were so young but now that the museum's here they’ll know.”
In addition to Linear’s information, the local fire department and other organizations have donated materials to the museum to help with its storytelling. Wilson said the museum has received lots of local support since it opened.
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“It’s been welcoming and people have even cried because of the things they’ve seen while visiting. The city supported us in many ways prior to opening up through donating frames, books and money so that’s helped a lot,” he said. “It's important that we have this here but more important that we get the message out. Since we can't go into schools and educate like a teacher can, we want to give education here.”
While the museum has not received state funding, organizers hope for continued donations to complete building renovations.
In the future, the museum hopes to add teaching technology for students and host discussions featuring some of the people that are featured on the museum's walls.
Tours are available from 1 until 4 p.m. on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. For more information visit www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100082873765839
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: African American History Museum opens in Jacksonville, Illinois
