Library hosting Black Heritage Evening
The Great Falls Public Library is hosting its annual Black Heritage Evening from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 8 to celebrate Black History Month.
The event will be held in the Cordingley Room, in the basement, with Kate Hampton, community preservation coordinator with the Montana Historical Society, as the keynote speaker.
She’ll speak about her documentary, “Hidden Stories: Montana’s Black Past.”
The event includes soul food, the Alexander Temple Saints Dancers, the Community Gospel Choir and other local speakers.
This event is co-hosted by the Alma Smith Jacobs Foundation.
Jacobs served as head librarian at the Great Falls Public Library and the state librarian, both historic firsts for a Black woman during her time.
Hampton, with the Montana Historical Society and the State Historic Preservation Office, initiated Montana’s African American Heritage Resources Project in 2005.
The project’s goals were to begin compiling and dis tributing resources on Montana’s African American history from the society’s collections and SHPO’s historic preservation inventories.
Others presenting include Great Falls Mayor Cory Reeves; Kathy Reed, friend and neighbor of Jacobs; Ken Robison, an area historian; and Bishop Marcus Collins from the Church of God in Christ.
