Episode 1: Taking Root, Voices Heard, Part 1

Fri, 03/07/2025 - 6:30am

In this episode, we hear about the origins of the Our Own Thing Chorale and Instructional Program with founder and special guest Dr. Willis C. Patterson. Dr. Patterson recalls the importance of music in his own development, especially as a member of the Dunbar Community Chorus.
 

Black Foodways

Wed, 10/02/2024 - 8:02pm

In this video compiled from dozens of interviews from the Living Oral History Project and the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive, participants share their memories of food and food traditions in their families, including fishing on the Huron River, hosting Fourth of July barbecues, and even starting a restaurant.

The Living Oral History Project is a partnership between the African American Cultural & Historical Museum of Washtenaw County and the Ann Arbor District Library, providing a permanent home for 50+ interviews with Black community members collected over the past decade. The collection continues to grow with interviews added each year.

The There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive contains 35 interviews that went into the research and making of a documentary film about the closing of Jones School, produced by the Ann Arbor District Library and 7 Cylinders Studio.

There Went The Neighborhood - Audio Interview: Mary Hinton-Branner

Sat, 08/10/2024 - 5:37pm

Mary Hinton-Branner attended Jones School in the 1950s, from kindergarten through sixth grade. She remembers going to the Dunbar Community Center and playing in the neighborhood with her eleven siblings. She recalls how the rise in public housing led to the gentrification of “The Old Neighborhood.”

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - State Theatre Interview: Mary Hinton-Jones

Wed, 08/07/2024 - 11:14am

Mary Hinton Jones was interviewed after a preliminary screening of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School at the State Theatre on April 16, 2023. She shares memories of Jones School and the surrounding neighborhood, including why many Black homeowners moved away.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.

There Went The Neighborhood - State Theatre Interview: Diana McKnight-Morton

Tue, 08/06/2024 - 5:20pm

Diana McKnight-Morton was interviewed after a preliminary screening of the documentary film There Went The Neighborhood: The Closing of Jones School at the State Theatre on April 16, 2023. She describes her father’s business, DeLong’s Bar-B-Q, which operated across from the farmers’ market.

More interviews are available in the There Went The Neighborhood Interview Archive.