News Flash

The city’s African American Heritage Initiative is inviting attendees at the Juneteenth Festival on Saturday, June 17 to be interviewed for an oral history while they are at the festival.             

The festival is being held from 1 to 8 p.m. at Bailey Park and Biotech Place in Innovation Quarter and is being organized by Triad Cultural Arts. From 1 to 5 p.m., oral histories can be recorded on video at the AAHI booth in Biotech Place for the city’s Human Relations/Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department. A member of the AAHI committee or staff will assist participants. 

A scanner will also be available at the booth for attendees who have documents with them. The recordings and scans will be loaded into the AAHI’s digital archive through the AAHI webpage at CityofWS.org/AAHI.

The city established the initiative in 2019 to preserve the experience of African Americans who lived in Winston-Salem through the years of segregation, the civil rights era and beyond. In addition to oral histories, the initiative is accepting items that can be submitted electronically, including photos, documents and written recollections. The initiative is seeking submissions relating to churches, neighborhoods, schools and education, civic groups, government, arts and culture, the professions and businesses, and more. 

More information about the initiative, including instructions on how to submit items, is posted at CityofWS.org/AAHI.