Interview / Conversation with Clayborn

Here's an unedited 20-minute interview and conversation I conducted with Clayborn Benson, founder and curator of the WBHSM:

Part 1

Part 2

WBHSM Exhibits

Here are some of the shots I took of the current exhibits at the WBHSM:

cotton plantation

labor & industry

domestic work

a sobering reminder

part of a children's project -- Marian Anderson, an opera singer who was once barred from singing at the Lincoln Memorial by the Daughters of the American Revolution

doll

old cash register

old hair dryer chair

shoe shining chair

barber shop

hair relaxer advertisement

WBHSM Projects

I worked at the Wisconsin Black Historical Society Museum over the past few months. I helped out with several tasks related to keeping the museum running, whether preparing for exhibits or organizing objects of interest in the storage area.

3/4/11 - On our first day, we had our work cut out for us. The WBHS had inherited a collection of books (from the now-defunct American Black Holocaust Museum) that had originally belonged to James Cameron, a civil rights activist who had survived a lynching attempt in 1930 when he was 16 and later founded three NAACP chapters. He was well-educated and well-read; interestingly enough, many more of his books dealt with democracy than directly with African-American topics. We had to sort these books and determine which would be most useful to keep.

3/11/11 - After selecting the most exhibit-worthy books, we boxed the rest and placed them in storage. Clayborn Benson, the founder and curator supervising us, talked to us about a couple of Black History topics. He talked about Spain's role in the slave trade, Chief Justice Taney's ruling on Dred Scott, the 13th-15th amendments, and Wisconsin's role in charter and choice for public schools.

3/18/11 - We had to clean out some boxes from the back storage area. Clayborn referred to himself as "the garbage collector for the community." In the back, I saw a fancy hat in a case and asked him about it. It turns out the hat belonged to Mattiebelle Woods, often called the "the first lady of Milwaukee's black press." She wrote for the Milwaukee Courier when she died in 2005 at the age of 102 as probably the oldest working journalist in America. She spoke three languages and, as evidenced by her hat, was quite fashionable.

4/8/11 - Friday fish fry! Other members of the group had helped with some of the setup earlier, so there wasn't much for me to do. On the wall are pictures of the Civil Rights Tribute Bus, which ran during the 96th NAACP convention in 2005 in Milwaukee.

4/29/11 - We cleaned up and vacuumed the area, which was mostly empty after all the work the previous weeks. When that was finished, we went through old newspapers, clipping articles that related to local African-Americans. Pictured first is (finally!) Clayborn.

Every task we completed had both smaller and larger scale implications. On the more immediate small scale, we were helping with the operation of the museum and getting in our service learning hours. But on the larger scale, we were contributing to the community in preserving the cultural history, all the while learning about the history ourselves.

Neighborhood Liftup (Walnut Way)

The weekend of Easter I had the chance to go over to the Lindsay Heights area and help Walnut Way with their annual neighborhood lift up! Below are a few images I took while I was there. I felt at home with all of interaction with fellow neighbors who came to participate! It was amazing how many volunteers and neighbors arrived as early as 9 am to help with the set up. I thought it was nice that the Walnut way did not just focus on only their gardens to cleaned up, turned over and planted; but a large group went from block to block cleaning up vacant lots and homes that other neighbors needed cleaned. It was with the help of the women that founded Walnut Way and her husband that allowed most of the clean to really happen! This is only step one of the summer kick off for Walnut Way. All of their produce and honey is sold in local farmers markets!

Projects

Plug Prep

Growing Flat

Outdoor Operation

Aquaculture System

Walnut Way

This semester I had the pleasure of working with the local non-profit group Walnut Way Conservation Corp. To better define the group I will share they opening statement on their website - "Our mission is to sustain economically diverse and abundant communities through civic engagement, environmental stewardship, and creating venues for prosperity." During the past few week I have been going through countless images, there are certain images that have struck my attention. I would like to share some that really allow me to show you a little bit about Walnut Way.

 This image above is from a shot of the home that they converted into their home, which once was an abandoned house that turned into a drug house.

 The Walnut Way actually has its own honey bee hives that they allow they to produce and sell locally grown honey! The peach trees allow the honey to even have a hit of peach!

Next to the home that they converted, the Walnut Way has a lot full of trees- peach, apricot, and pecan (coming soon)

Growing Power

Providing Healthy Food in a Food Desert 

A food desert.  Those words profoundly struck me during my orientation with Growing Power.  What is a food desert?  It's an area where there are few grocery stores but where fast food restaurants and convenience stores filled with unhealthy food choices abound.  Growing Power is working to change that by being the green oasis in the middle of Milwaukee's north side food desert.  They are working on bring together people - of all backgrounds - to work towards a common goal: provide healthy, high-quality food for its local community.  

(photo by Jimmy Fishbein for TIME)

Will Allen

Founder of Growing Power

Named by TIME magazine as one of 2010's 100 people who most affect our world.

 

 

 

 

 Growing power is located on 55th & Silver Spring in Milwaukee, WI. It's 2 acres is the only land in the city of Milwaukee that is zoned as farmland.  They have green houses filled with a variety of seasonal produce, along with turkeys, goats, chickens and tilapia which are raised in their aquaponic structures.  Everything is raised in a sustainable fashion and then is sold to people in the community, either directly from their store or at local farmers markets where they often accept food stamps in order to ensure that everyone has access to healthy, nourishing food. Growing Power also sells to local restaurants who strive to support the local food movement.  This conscious act helps to further promote and strengthen Growing Powers mission and in turn it's surrounding community.