CANTON − History is filled with pivotal moments. The people in their midst frequently have stories unknown and untold.
The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum wants to share some of those tales.
The museum at 800 McKinley Monument Drive NW will be the site of a free community celebration for its new Keller Gallery exhibition, “A Legacy Revived: Exploring Stark County’s Rich Black History,” from 6 to 8:30 p.m. June 19.
The exhibit doubles as a preview of the future Stark County Black History Museum, an arm of the museum launched in 2023.
“The message is the importance of little known-Black history in Stark County; for people to see it all in one location. I think it’s very important,” said Tameka Ellington, Black History Museum curator.
“A Legacy Revived” will showcase about 50 artifacts and dozens of photographs capturing Black life in Stark County.
Ellington said she’s grateful for the community response, particularly item donations. She has organized open houses, artifact days and visited local churches.
“I have people reaching out on a weekly basis,” she said. “It’s been a real community effort. The one I’m most excited about came from Darrell Whitehurst and his sister Delta Chambers Whitehurst Chambers, who gifted their dad’s double bass.”
David A. Whitehurst was an accomplished jazz bassist who died in 2023.
Ellington said the family also donated a digital track of their father performing, which visitors will be able to access.
The collection will feature photographs donated by Geraldine “Gerry” Radcliffe, co-author of the 2019 book “African Americans of Stark County,” and Black history expert Marva Dotson of Massillon.
The legend of Jocko Graves
One of Ellington’s wish-list items was the donation of a cement lawn jockey, which she secured from a family friend in Cleveland.
According to the legend, the lawn statues were created to commemorate Jocko Graves, a 12-year-old enslaved boy credited with providing George Washington with a landing marker during his historic crossing of the Delaware River on Dec. 25, 1776.
According to the story, Graves stood watch at the shore with a lantern to aid Washington. By the time Washington’s boat reached the shore, Graves had frozen to death, but the lamp remained lit.
Washington was said to have commissioned a statue of Graves, but in subsequent years, it was distorted into a minstrel-like figure that many Blacks still find demeaning.
Ellington noted that the statues were allegedly used as signals along the Underground Railroad.
“People would tie a green ribbon around his arm, which meant it was safe, or a red ribbon to let them know it wasn’t,” she said.
Other artifacts include a donation of the first pulpit used in Shiloh Baptist Church in Massillon during the 1900s; and a pew, attendance placard and time capsule from St. Paul AME Church, the city’s first Black congregation.
There’s also an ornate diploma from Massillon Union School issued to Mary Bowman on June 21, 1872. Union School was the precursor of present-day Washington High School.
Dodson, a museum committee member who donated the document, gave her entire 50-year collection, which she entitled CHARISMA, or Contributions of Historic African American and Roots and Influence are Significant to the Massillon Area.
“They came with a U-Haul,” she said. “I’ve been collecting since I was in my 20s. I started out just for my enjoyment.”
Dodson said the collection dates back to Massillon’s first Black settlers, Isaac and Rachel Robson, who lived in what then was known as Kendal, where historic Springhill Farm now stands.
Dodson said an attempt was made to establish a Black history museum some years ago, but it didn’t pan out. In 2022, dozens of her artifacts from her collection were featured in a Massillon Museum exhibit, “Missing History of Massillon: Unheard African American Stories”
“We need to feature how African Americans have contributed to the fabric and growth of Stark County,” she said. “So many times, (non-minorities) have looked at us as not being important. I get tired of the same handful of people being named. Many more people who made viable contributions.”
Ellington said donations include remnants from the Black business district that occupied Cherry Avenue SE in Canton for decades until most of the neighborhood was demolished to make way for an overpass and U.S. Route 30.
‘A Legacy Revived’ exhibit through Nov. 27
Ellington noted that Thomas West donated a sign from Collier’s Sandwich Shop. The owners, the late Robert and Mary Collier, later opened their own catering business that they operated out of two homes on Tyler Avenue SE.
The McKinley Museum recently launched a $18.5 million capital improvements campaign to expand the museum, $4 million of which will be earmarked to house the Stark County Black History Museum in its own space. State community-project funds will cover $250,000.
“It will be like the Paul Brown exhibit at the Massillon Massillon: a museum within a museum,” Ellington said. “This a way for people to get a taste of what’s coming.”
Ellington said about 250 people have already registered in advance for the open house event, which will include Black-owned food trucks, a DJ, and performances by a dance troupe from the Ivory Coast.
Registration is encouraged, though not required, for the June 16 event at McKinleyMuseum.org.
“A Legacy Revived” will be on exhibit through Nov. 27.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: ‘A Legacy Revived’ to showcase Stark’s Black history & untold stories
Reporting by Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Charita M. Goshay, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
