Community engagement: Finding history where it lives

An African American community activist and business owner was looking for an institution that would collect documents and assist in conducting oral histories from communities across Southern Illinois to “tell the story of the region’s African-American Heritage.” Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) answered the call. SCRC has been committed to collecting and providing access to materials that represent diversity of race, economic status, gender and sexuality, religion, and politics in southern Illinois.