This brought formation of the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project (BNBHP). The energy and curiosity centered on the African-American past that burst forth around the nation with the Civil Rights movement and the 'Roots' narration led to the eventual emergence in Bloomington-Normal of a determined effort to collect and publicize information on the local black community. Their experiences lived on as memories, brought out at family reunions, almost unmentioned in local historical accounts.
But the story of that influence, of the many ways that African-Americans participated in the life of what became a thriving Central Illinois commercial and educational center, was seldom acknowledged.
By: Mark Wyman, Ph.D (professor, Illinois State University)įrom the arrival of the first African-Americans in McLean County, Illinois, in 1835, until the present, the Bloomington-Normal community has been influenced in its development by the activities of its black citizens.
