Preserve Your Community Stories at Findlay Market Digitization Events

Written by Clarity Amrein, Community Content Coordinator, Genealogy & Local History Department, Downtown Main Library

"Without documenting our history, it's easy to forget where we came from.” Asa Featherstone, IV.

Featherstone is a photographer and documentarist, and his work has been shown in TIME Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, the Contemporary Arts Center, and more. On Sunday, May 15 and Sunday, May 22, opens a new window at Findlay Market, the Library is partnering with Featherstone, Findlay Market, and ArtsWave to hold two community photo scanning and digitization events.

Preserve Your Historic and Family Photos and Stories

Bring your historic and family photos of Findlay Market and your experiences in the neighborhood to be digitized and saved on a flash drive for you to keep, free of charge! Participants will have the opportunity to provide oral stories and have their portraits taken.

Created by Asa Featherstone, IV and made possible by an ArtsWave Truth & Reconciliation grant, the images collected and taken at the events will become part of a scanned archive. The archive will be part of a larger project called Laying the Foundation: a series of images, stories, and installations that celebrate the life of the Black community at Findlay Market and the surrounding neighborhoods.

"Without documenting our history,” says Featherstone, “it's easy to forget where we came from; we leave it to others who weren't there to tell our story for us."

“As Black folks, we need to share our memories, photos, and letters with each other so we can be reminded of the joy, love, and power we hold, not only in our city but in our community."

The images and stories collected at the Findlay Market scanning events will also be published on CHPL’s Digital Library, opens a new window to be accessed for generations to come.

Visit the Digital Library, opens a new window to view more historic Cincinnati neighborhood photos, stories, and artifacts.