Category: Press

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The Alabama Historical Association Presents the 2023 Digital History Award to Birmingham Black Radio Museum

The Association presented four awards at their Pratville conference in April 2023. The Digital History Award was given to the Birmingham Black Radio Museum at the Carver Theater and the Alabama Digital Preservation Network Tech Policy Committee. The Milo Howard Award for best article in The Alabama Review over the last three years went to Brandon T. Jett for his article, “‘We Crave to Become a Vital Force in the Community’: Police Brutality and African American Activism in Birmingham, Alabama, 1920-1945.” The Guntersville Historical Society earned the Kuykendall Award for exemplary local history society, and Bertis D. English was the recipient of the Coley Book Award for his book Civil Wars, Civil Beings, and Civil Rights in Alabama’s Black Belt: A History of Perry County.

For more about these awards and a listing of past recipients, visit Alabama History Association’s webpage.

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Alyx Chandler: Archiving the Past in Iron City Ink

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Bob Friedman, creator and director of the Birmingham Black Radio Museum, poses with some of his radio equipment, museum memorabilia and record collection from his years hosting radio shows and conducting interviews.

“With the help of local and nationwide student volunteers in library sciences and history over the last several years, former WJLD radio host and BBRM Director Bob Friedman continues his mission to transcribe and create a community-based web archive for the oral history of Birmingham-connected black radio. BBRM catalogs interviews from the 1930s through the 1980s conducted by him and other radio show hosts.”

Full article on Iron City Ink

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IMLS Announces Grants of $1.4 Million for African American History and Culture Museums

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) today announced 16 grants to museums in 10 states totaling $1,485,955 for the African American History and Culture (AAHC) grant program. More than 32 organizations requested grants totaling $3,076,510.

Museum Grants for African American History and Culture support projects that improve the operations, care of collections, and development of professional management at African American museums. Examples from the 16 selected projects include:

  • The digitization of the Birmingham Black Radio Museum’s collection of oral histories and interviews of radio personalities, civil rights leaders, authors, and entertainers. With the help of student interns from the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Sciences and work space provided by the historic Carver Theatre, the museum will digitize the entire collection and develop a blog series for public discussion.”

Full press release here

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Hank Black for Alabama Newscenter: Birmingham Black Radio Museum maintains unique aspect of local heritage

Birmingham Black Radio Museum maintains unique aspect of local heritage
Ed Chambers, a sportscaster with WEDR-AM 1220 is shown in this 1950 photo.

“The Birmingham Black Radio Museum (BBRM) project began amassing interviews, pictures and memorabilia in 1992 and received its not-for-profit status on 2004. Its goal was to organize and preserve that history and make it available to scholars and the public. The collection now spans the 1930s through the 1980s and is archived at the historic Carver Theatre in downtown Birmingham.”

Read the full article here on Alabama Newscenter

Also in the Birmingham Times