Begun at the University of Delaware in 2012 and now part of Penn State’s Center for Black Digital Research, the Colored Conventions Project (CCP) presents the rich and long-overlooked history of Black political organizing between 1830-1900. CCP chronicles this history of justice activism from its beginnings in 1830’s Ohio through the turbulent years of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the retreat from a potential multiracial democracy to the entrenchment of racialized discrimination. Throughout this period “Colored Conventions,” as they would come to be known, served as “empowering hubs of Black political thought and organizing” that engaged a diverse array of Black thought leaders and enthusiastic parties across gender and class lines seeking a common goal of racial justice. These gatherings in cities and towns across the country “provided space for informed public audiences to develop political plans and community-building projects.”
“Homepage,” Colored Conventions Project. Accessed January 29, 2023. https://coloredconventions.org
Styling itself as “an interdisciplinary research hub that uses digital tools to bring the buried history of nineteenth-century Black organizing to life” and boasting support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the CCP is at once a place of peer-reviewed scholarship, a growing digital archive, and front-facing activistm . Indeed, one of the key aims of CCP is to use historical scholarship about the Colored Conventions to contextualize, inform, and, ultimately, advance those the goals of racial justice in the present. The project demonstrates history’s dynamic connection to the present, unflinchingly stating that the past can be used – and should be used – to provide insight into modern political dilemmas and to elevate marginalized voices, particularly those of Black women.
This ethos is perhaps best illustrated by CCP’s involvement in the August 2022 unveiling of two new murals to black political organizing in Philadelphia – one to the Colored Conventions of the 19th century in the city (with references to multiple historical figures featured on the mural) and the other to the 20th and early 21st century continuation of that tradition, including the Black Lives Matter movement.
Like the Colored Conventions themselves, CCP emphasizes that its work is a “collective” of multiple voices working toward a mutual goal of bringing the history of racial justice activism to life. In the spirit of restoring humanity to overlooked actors and crediting participants, CCP stresses that its strength and vigor comes from multiple parties working to “locate, transcribe, and archive the documentary record related to this nearly forgotten history and to curate digital exhibits that highlight its stories, events, and themes.”
CCP’s site contains two key areas: 1) Records and 2) Exhibits.
The Records section is an Omeka-based site where users can plumb thousands of historical documents relating to the Colored Conventions.
Researchers can employ a simple keyword search, choose to browse, or search via delegate name, the results for which show connections between convention delegates, highlighting the spatial dynamic of Black organizing. Users can likewise search the conventions by state, year, or type. Significantly, CCP does not present its documented conventions as the exhaustive list. Rather, it encourages submission of additional material, providing instructions on how to submit new documents.
A bounty of primary sources await a patient researcher. The Records section contains hundreds of “minutes, proceedings, newspaper articles, speeches, letters, transcripts, and images.” Many of these sources are transcribed for easy reading.
The Exhibits section of the site features 18 interactive exhibits ranging in topic from the “Birth of Southern Conventions after the Civil War” to “Black Women’s Rights in the 1850s” to “Black Boardinghouses” and “Black Mobility.” This section’s main page features a useful keyword search to narrow down subject matter.
One of the strengths of the exhibits is the liberal use of graphs, pictures, videos, and other interactive elements that compliment the text. Each exhibit manages to pack a lot of nuanced information into its respective sections while keeping the visual aspect of the presentation fresh. Occasionally the differing text sizes on certain pages makes some material look slightly disorganized, but this is a minor quibble. The exhibits on the whole work well. Citations accompany each exhibit, and reading lists for further engagement are also provided.
Users seeking additional information on Black political organizing and Black life benefit from a robust bibliography pointing them in the direction of pertinent works on the topic. Most notable is a newer book, published in 2021: The Colored Conventions Movement: Black Organizing in the Nineteenth Century. Eight exhibits connected to the book are online, each with a teaching guide for K-12 educators and another for Advanced Placement and College instructors.
A welcome improvement would be the inclusion of an introductory video explaining how to use the site. The volume of information might be intimidating to some, and an intuitive video quick-guide would be beneficial.
This small suggestion aside, the Colored Conventions Project provides an exemplary digital experience for seasoned historians and novice students alike, managing to walk the line between accessible and scholarly. The root of the site’s success is that it manages to communicate the complexity and texture of history without losing sight of the fact that most of the exhibit viewers need more than just text and photos to encourage continued scrolling. Given the relevant, timely nature of the subject matter and the CCP’s goal of encouraging historically informed engagement in modern political discourse, this certainly makes the site a success.
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