Recovering Lost Stories

In 2024, UNL Libraries was awarded the Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices grant funded from the Council of Library and Information Resources supported by the Mellon Foundation.  Led by project PI’s Charlene Maxey-Harris and Lorna Dawes, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries and the Malone Community Center will embark on a three-year collaborative project to prepare, digitize and provide community and worldwide access to over 6000 unique, historically significant documents and artifacts of the Malone Center in Lincoln Nebraska. 

The materials tell the stories, histories, and achievements of the African Americans who lived in the Malone community and includes reports and records outlining the history of the Urban League in Lincoln, valuable board minutes containing stories about housing developments, city planning and land acquisitions and scrapbooks, photos and videos of community members, prominent leaders and politicians. The collection will highlight the hidden strengths, achievements and contributions of Lincoln’s African American Community and is critical to the historical record of the city and the state. 

This project will organize and make this rich history accessible online, ensuring that this history of the African American community in Lincoln, Nebraska is freely available to the local community, and to students, researchers, and scholars throughout the country and the world.