KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Kalamazoo is rich in Black History. People like Arthur Washington Jr., Gilbert H. Bradley Jr., and Anna Whitten are just a few of the city’s residents who paved the way.
“There are many firsts, where we have the first African American teacher in Kalamazoo Public Schools, was a woman named Pauline Byrd Johnson, the first Black city commissioner was Arthur Washington Jr.,” said Ryan Gage, local history specialist for the Kalamazoo Public Library.
As a Kalamazoo resident and lover of history, Gage works to make sure these names are not forgotten.
“The nice thing about local history is that it is on the streets. It's not an abstract idea. You can actually walk outside of your house and walk down to the first office space of the first black surgeon here in Kalamazoo, who was C. Allen Alexander,” he said.
Although Kalamazoo’s civil rights movements weren’t as nationally-known as other movements, they still pushed the city forward.
“You had local activists, you had a local chapter of the NAACP here, and the Van Avery Drugstore protest was a kind of historical flashpoint for civil rights in Kalamazoo,” Gage told FOX 17 News.
In 1963, a young NAACP member wasn’t allowed to fill out an application for a drugstore with predominantly Black customers. When he went back to the NAACP, local church leaders, and local advocates, they formed a movement.
According to Gage, this became a turning point for Kalamazoo. Issues surrounding housing, education, and employment started to receive a lot more attention.
“In order to understand current issues, you really have to understand how these issues came about, and local history is a perfect place for that to happen,” he said.
While it’s normal to interpret Black history as moments of the past, the Society for History and Racial Equity (S.H.A.R.E), believes people are making history right now.
“So here at S.H.A.R.E, we preserve that history, we have thoseoral interviews. As we know, much of the history that we do collect, you're not able to find in a textbook,” said Executive Director, Chiante Lymon.
The organization has been around for 20 years, and so far they’ve conducted over 61 oral interviews, allowing residents to share the impacts they’ve made on the city.
Lymon says while it’s important for people to know names like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, it’s also important to know those who changed Southwest Michigan.
“I was the first African American woman to be the president at Western Michigan University over the student body. So like, that was just history,” said Lymon. She also said her presidency was the first in over 100 years.
She believes knowing that someone from your neighborhood achieved something great, can inspire you to do more in your community.
