The 150,000-square-foot International African American Museum of Charleston, South Carolina, is expected to open in January of 2023. The museum will feature the horrors of the slave trade and the resilience of enslaved people through nine exhibition galleries and a memorial garden.
Charleston has chosen to embrace its darker history rather than avoiding it as a result of cultural shifts in the community.
Original post by Jane Recker/Smithsonian Magazine
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Hartford, Connecticut, is home to M. Swift & Sons, which first opened its doors in 1887. M. Swift & Sons was the largest gold leaf (gold that has been hammered into very thin sheets) manufacturer in the country and the Hartford neighborhood for some time. By the mid-20th century, the company’s clientele had declined.
In 2010 the community residents were adamant about revitalizing their neighborhood and saw that the factory was the key. The leaders in the community reached out to Community Solutions on the restoration of the factory and then got together a list of what the community of North Hartford needed the most.
In 2019, the factory was fully restored, and there are now more than a dozen businesses operating there, creating jobs and services for the community. Due to this restoration, North Hartford has flourished with new opportunities, a thriving local economy, and an increase in community resiliency.
Original post by Mike Palien/People Saving Places
Read more here: https://savingplaces.org/stories/swift-factory-where-preservation-met-community-engagement#.Yppk7BPMIUo
A woman receives the first 3D-printed ear transplant made of her living cells. 3DBio Therapeutics has called this transplant a “groundbreaking reconstructive procedure.” The reconstruction is one of the first clinical trials for the implant called AuriNovo. This implant is specifically for patients with microtia, a rare congenital ailment where the outer ear is either underdeveloped or doesn’t exist at all.
Original post by Li Cohen/CBS News
Read more here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/woman-gets-3d-printed-ear-transplant-made-of-her-own-cells/
California regulators have approved the ‘Cruise’ driverless taxi rides in San Francisco, the first to be approved in a state where several competitors are testing the same technology.
Original post by Michael Liedtke/Associated Press News
Read more here: https://apnews.com/article/technology-san-francisco-climate-and-environment-government-politics-63e3bc1eade16d91a209b00697db42c5
The Latinos in Heritage Conservation (LHC) was founded in 2014 by a group of heritage practitioners, advocates, scholars, and students to serve as a national network to support the preservation of Latinx spaces in the U.S.
The Mellon Foundation awarded the LHV $750,000, and it granted them access to hire their first executive director Sehila Mota Casper. With their new hire, they also plan to use the money towards growing their office by hiring new people. After developing a bigger staff, they plan on advocating for the inclusion of Latinx heritage and equitable access to historical preservation on local, state, and national levels.
The Latinx heritage and their communities have been often misunderstood and disproportionately preserved compared to other ethnic and cultural sites, and the LHC wants to focus on changing that.
Original post by Priya Chhaya/People Saving Places
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MacKenzie Scott is donating $122.6 million to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. This donation will support 38 Big Brothers Big Sisters of America locations.
According to a statement, the donation intends to push its mission further by providing every young person with access to mentoring experiences that empower them for success in school, life, and their career.
The donation from Scott is the largest donation BBBSA has ever received since its founding, and it was a shock to Artis Stevens, the president, and CEO, when he received the news.
Original post by Elizabeth Blair/NPR
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https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1100839620/big-brothers-big-sisters-mackenzie-scott-donation
In the past, the U.S Army bases had several locations named in honor of controversial Confederate officers. The country’s defense department proposed new base names that honor women and people of color.
Nine bases have been selected to receive names. The individuals honored either originated from or resonated with the communities the bases are. The bases are in Virginia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Alabama.
Original post by Sarah Kuta/Smithsonian Magazine
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The final payphone was removed from midtown Manhattan, New York, making payphones officially a thing of the past. The payphone was removed from the street and taken to the Museum of the City of New York for display in an exhibit about the pre-digital era.
This removal is the end of an era, as the city has been removing public payphones for seven years. The space previously occupied by the payphone will now host “LinkNYC” kiosks. The kiosks will provide services such as free public Wi-Fi, charging ports, 911 buttons, and screens with maps.
Original post by Rachel Treisman
Read more here: https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1100931534/last-pay-phone-new-york-city-public-nyc
Justice Sunshine Suzanna Sykes was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as California’s first Native federal judge.
Sykes is now the fourth active Native federal judge in the nation.
Sykes’ previous achievements include being the Riverside County Superior Court judge, serving in that position since 2013. She worked for the California Indian Legal Services as a juvenile defense attorney with the Southwest Justice Center and as a Riverside County Attorney. Sykes received her law degree from Stanford Law School in 2001 and a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1997.
Original post by Carina Dominguez/Indian Country Today
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