City of Alexandria (Alexandria Black History Museum)

The Alexandria Black History Museum will digitize, interpret, and make four of their important collections publicly accessible. The digitization process will include creating or updating catalog records and scanning or photography of collections items, resulting in approximately 20,000 records with images for public access. Two internships will assist with the digitization of the collection updating catalog records. A series of small online exhibitions will be developed that will explore the stories of individuals from the archives and their respective roles in the overarching theme of civil rights and equity, along with public programs and k-12 curriculum aligned with these exhibitions. By digitizing collections to provide better access, improving collections care by reducing future handling, and maintaining better collections management by employing trained staff, the museum will be able to offer an expanded program and curriculum, leading to increased public knowledge of Alexandria’s African American history.