In honor of Black History Month, the South Garland High School (SGHS) library has been transformed into a Black History Museum, focusing on the 2024 theme “African Americans and the Arts.” This initiative aims to educate students about Black individuals’ rich cultural heritage and contributions throughout history.
Lisa Latham, the librarian at SGHS, says she’s been building the museum every year since 2015, and it only gets better each time.
“It started as a living museum where students would dress as characters, and their peers would have to guess who they were portraying,” said Latham. “It has grown and evolved so much since then. It was once just a small corner of the library, and now the displays cover almost the entire space.”
The museum features a wide range of displays highlighting the significant contributions made by African Americans to the arts. Students can explore and learn about historical figures, from music and dance to literature and film.
“Our goal each year is to find and display the things kids are interested in and introduce them to new historical and modern history they can relate to as well,” said Latham.
The displays use several types of mixed media, including video, music, books, and even arts and crafts. Upon entering the museum, a wall-length video plays footage of a documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, informally known as the “Black Woodstock.”
“We worked on laying out the timeline for major events that preceded the festival to give the students the full scope of what America was like at that time,” explained Latham.
The librarians leave books related to each display nearby so the students can read more about each topic at leisure. Co-librarian Leanne Schilling says one of the most popular books students request to check out after touring the museum is Tupac Shakur’s book of poems, “The Rose That Grew From Concrete.”
“We had to order even more copies and start a waiting list because the demand for the book is so high,” said Schilling.
Other displays include the history of hip-hop through the decades, culinary arts, authors, a history of voting, Black cowboys, theatre, contemporary artists, local Dallas Black history figures, sports, and a section covering 2019 South Garland graduate and NBA star Tyrese Maxey.
In addition to interactive displays, students can participate in games and create silhouette artwork based on the work of Kara Walker.
Teachers at South Garland can sign their class up for a time to visit the museum, or the students are free to see it before and after school or during lunch. The reactions from students, staff, and district visitors have been positive. Many students have expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to learn about black history in the arts in a more immersive and interactive way.
“I’ve been coming to the Black History Museum since I was a freshman,” said junior Briana Hernandez. “I like how I get to learn about other cultures and engage with the museum. I can tell the librarians want us to be aware of Black history and appreciate the things that have happened in the past and how we got to where we are now.”
Junior Jaylen Pin says his favorite displays this year are about music history.
“I learned a lot about the beginning of hip-hop this year,” said Pin. “But the best part is seeing how hip-hop evolved over the years and eventually became what it is today. I also had never heard about the Harlem Cultural Festival, so it was cool to learn about that and see how healing music was, and still is, for the Black community.”
Latham says that students will tell her what they want to see added to the museum, and the librarians do their best to make it happen.
The Black History Museum has created a space within the walls of South Garland High School that celebrates diversity and promotes cultural awareness. The library is also transformed for Hispanic Heritage Month each year, and Latham says they’re looking for more ways to incorporate additional cultural recognition months.
“There are so many people and cultures to celebrate that we could feature a different museum every month,” said Latham. “We are planning on expanding beyond Black History and Hispanic Heritage Months, so it’s possible we could add something else over the next school year. I love doing the museums because I learn something new each year right along with the students.”
Information and photos provided by Garland ISD.