This Black History Month, History Cherokee is proud to announce the launch of our Black History Committee.

"The history of Black people is often overlooked. When it comes to collection and preservation, elements of Black history get disregarded by the institutions that decide whose history gets saved and whose doesn’t- and we want to do our part in changing that in Cherokee County," states Harvee White, History Cherokee's Education Manager.

History Cherokee’s Black History Committee is dedicated to the collection, preservation, and interpretation of Black History in Cherokee County. The goal is to collect the stories, images, and artifacts that make up Black history and Black lives in Cherokee County from the earliest settlement to today, and to make sure these stories get told.

History Cherokee has already made exciting headway on this commitment to Cherokee County’s Black history as they prepare for the opening of the Cherokee County History Center. Currently, staff is working to create a documentary with a Georgia film crew and local civil rights activists covering the integration of the former Canton Theatre. Visitors will find this documentary at the Cherokee County History Center when it opens in summer 2022.

The integration of the Canton Theatre is just one example of a vast history to preserve and share and History Cherokee needs help to do it. Led by Ms. White and a few volunteers committed to the Black History Committee’s mission, the committee plans on digging deeper to preserve and share the Black stories of Cherokee County.

To join History Cherokee’s Black History Committee, contact Harvee White at hwhite@historycherokee.org.