Local historians piecing together African American history

In honor of Black History Month, local historians are asking people to share their old photos and documents to add to the history of St. Joseph County.

Wednesday night the public brought their family photos and shared their stories. Groups with the Civil Rights Heritage Museum and the St. Joseph County Public Library scanned those memories. They plan to add whatever information they receive to the city's historical archives.

Sania Adams scrolled through old documents to learn about her own family tree from generations ago.

"That my great, great, great grandparents were very far apart in age when they got married," said Sania Adams. "They lived in Mississippi and Chicago before they came here."

Even though Adams didn't bring any documents of her own, she was able to learn about parts of her family history in about 30 minutes. Adams says it's important to know your history to understand yourself.

"It lets them know why they are the way they are and their personality," said Adams.

George Garner, the museum curator says it's important to learn about South Bend's African American community because it's a huge part of the city's history.

"We're standing in a building that once practiced segregation against people of color," said George Garner. "That's something that happened in a lot of places in our city and that unfortunately is a history that gets lost and doesn't often get told. It's important that history doesn't get lost. It's important that history gets saved and shared."

If anyone run across an old family photo, Garner says it could be the missing piece of history they're looking for.

"Those stories, those photographs, those documents, they may not seem like they're worth anything beyond your family but the stories that tell about our entire city's history are way too valuable to lose," said Garner.

If you want to learn more about your family history the St. Joseph County Public Library offers those services for free. If you want to submit your family photos or documents then you can contact: The Civil Rights Heritage Museum Center at (574)-307-6135.

You can also go to: www.michianamemory.sjcpl.org to see historic documents and photos of South Bend.