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Public Hears Possibilities for Black Archives Future

The Black Archives' current location in a former fire station on 20th and Vine.
Nicholas Segura
The Black Archives' current location in a former fire station on 20th and Vine.

By Sylvia Maria Gross

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-656013.mp3

Kansas City, MO – On Thursday, Attorney General Jay Nixon hosted a second public hearing on the future of the Black Archives of Mid-America. The institution is home to tens of thousands of artifacts and documents related to African American history in Kansas City, and around the country. But it has only filed one annual report in the last five years, and the board of directors had dwindled to one member. Since Nixon's first public hearing three weeks ago, several ideas for management of the archives have been floated, including the possibility of sharing a space with a branch of Kansas City's public library. But there are some who feel that control of the archives should remain in the black community. Sylvia Maria Gross attended Thursday's hearing and has this report.

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