LYNN — The Lynn Museum has assembled a special collection of artifacts, documents and family ephemera from prominent Black historical figures of Lynn.
Doneeca Thurston, director of the Lynn Museum, has been working on the exhibition since November of 2019, but the project itself began in 2017 when the museum hosted an oral Black history project with North Shore Community College, influencing the idea of a unique exhibition focused around Lynn’s Black history.
The exhibition includes original documents of freed and traded enslaved people, including Lewis Latimer, inventor of the light bulb, and Jan Ernst Matzeliger, inventor of a shoe lasting machine that is still used today. It also includes photos, furniture, quotes and records from Frederick Douglass and Lynn’s first historian and mapmaker, Alonzo Lewis.
The exhibit includes multiple glass cases containing those pieces of history, set up in chronological order beginning with slavery, then acknowledging the 54th regiment that included eight men from Lynn, before ending in the current century.
Official slave trade papers between Ebenezer Breed and the Hood family, names that can be found on two schools on O’Callaghan Way, date back to the 1700s and are still legible.
“It’s fascinating to see that somebody thought that it was important to keep these things, then donate them to us,” Thurston said.
Each case contains a story of an enslaved or freed Black man, some who disappeared, while others went on to own their own land and businesses. Thurston hopes that the exhibit will inform visitors of the hardships, racism and segregation that prominent people in Lynn’s history encountered.
The exhibit concludes with a community section, including acknowledgements of notable Black figures in the city and videos and photos of Black “Lynners” telling their own stories.
“I think it’s important that we work with the community that we are speaking to, to curate this exhibition,” said Thurston.
Thurston also collaborated with the North Shore Juneteenth Association to feature its Black Excellence display at the museum, which brings a more contemporary lens.
The museum is currently closed due to the city guidelines regarding the pandemic, but Thurston is hoping to open in person next month, if it is safe. She has spent the last year adjusting to the changes that the virus has required, and received a grant to purchase hand sanitizing stations and personal protective equipment. As museums in Boston have been given the green light to reopen, Thurston is still unsure when she will receive that good news.
“It’s out of our control,” she said. “We’re hoping for the best and will continue to push forward.”
She is trying to figure out how to offer the exhibition virtually, but said that “what we have here is something you really want to experience in person.”
The exhibition will remain intact throughout the end of the year, offering people the opportunity to visit and absorb the visual and physical history that is on display.
“Especially with the virus, while things are starting to improve, a lot of people don’t feel comfortable coming out,” said Thurston.
She is hoping to put together summer programs outdoors, such as an outdoor film series, so people will feel more comfortable attending.
“I want to put something together that will tie into the exhibition and create more opportunities for folks to come here,” said Thurston.
The museum is currently hosting virtual storytime sessions, in honor of Black History Month, with members of staff and volunteers, which can be found on the Lynn Museum Facebook page and its Vimeo page. The first session of that program included a reading of the book “The Other Side,” by Iris Kimber, one of the trustees for the Lynn Museum/LynnArts.
There will also be a virtual African dance workshop, hosted by skilled dancer Wyoma, on February 23, with a $5 admission fee.
To heighten the inclusivity of children in Black History Month, the museum is offering curbside pick-up crafts, available through the end of the month. The crafts coincide with the displays in the exhibit and change each week.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
