 Good evening and welcome to Public Affairs, Public Access on Houston Media Source TV. I'm Gene Price with the League of Women Voters of Houston. February is African American History Month and we commemorate almost 500 years of the African American experience in the United States. It's a story older than the U.S. itself. As we honor Black American struggles, tribulations, successes, and contributions to American history, we look forward to a prosperous future in the United States. Tonight we'll talk about African American History Month with Don Caleb II. Don is an educator and a parent and he'll discuss the importance of African American History Month in those roles. Miguel Caesar will also visit with us. He's the lead archivist and acting manager at the Houston Public Library's Gregory School, where he'll talk about preserving the past or the future generations. So thank you for joining us tonight and we hope you're staying safe. Let's begin our discussion with Don Caleb II. With me this evening is Don Caleb II. And Don, you've been a public school teacher and you're currently working, going back to school to ramp up your degrees. We're celebrating Black History Month, African American History Month, here in February. And so I wanted to get your perspective as a educator and as a parent of the importance of African American history. First of all, I mentioned two names, right, Black or African American. Names mean things and I know in the Latino community there's currently a debate over what do we call ourselves. But I understand that there's changes also in how younger African American male students and females see themselves and refer to themselves as opposed to an earlier generation. Yeah, first off, I'd like to thank you for having me. It's an extreme honor to be here. But talking about the name African American and Black, and even when you talk about Black History Month, African American History Month, it started off as like Negro History Week. So we've gone from Negro with the month with the celebration of our culture. We've gone from Negro to African American. And so like you said, now there's kind of a hot big topic of just going with Black. So like you said, the younger generation, we're kind of at an area of why do we need to be, why do we need to be recognized about where our ancestors are from? We're so far removed from that, we're African in DNA. We're African in, you know, of course our skin tone. But we're so far removed from that. We're Americans. And you know, no matter how the country goes or how we're treated by the country, we're still proud to be American. So to try to separate us from just being Americans is kind of a slap in the face. And so that's where the whole issue comes from with the name. Like I said, it went from Negro to African American. And now we're just saying, hey, we're just Americans. That's really an interesting perspective. And you know, the names do change over time, as you were pointing out. Why is it important as an educator, as a parent, to have to celebrate African American or Black History Month? So it's important because you just can't separate a people's history from a country that, you know, they're a part of, that they help build, that they help create. And so there again, you know, there's been a big push to get people to recognize our accomplishments every day, you know, not just a month. But we also have to understand the importance of this month started by Carter G. Woodson. It's important to highlight and to bring forth specific things for our culture. So the importance of African American history or Black American history, I've even heard some older people still calling Negro, you know, History Month. But it's important because we are, again, like I said, we're Americans and our history matters and our culture matters. So we have to make sure that we also remain relevant in the grand scheme of American history and American culture. So it's very important as an educator and as a parent myself for our children to know everybody, not just Black children, but every race of children should know. And why is that? I mean, a lot of people think about American history. We should focus on the heroes, the George Washington's, the Thomas Jefferson's, the Abraham Lincoln's. But why is it important for children of color to have people like them represented in history? Well, it shows that we have a place in history and it's bigger than what we're usually taught of being an enslaved people. And so being able to see greatness in yourself, in a perspective of the great nation of America, is very key and very important to every minority group in the United States. Just making sure that we just make sure the kids know that history isn't just about the founding fathers. It's about the people that helped the founding fathers get where they were. Most people don't know the story of African Americans or Black men that participated in the American Revolution in large numbers. Most people don't know about Prince Hall of the Black Masons, how he was an abolitionist and how he was in the revolution and how him and his son helped squash Shea's Rebellion. So putting these in perspective, it allows the children to gain a different interest because history now looks like them. So as a teacher, what were some of the challenges you face in communicating African American history, not just on a one month or previously, as you point out, one week basis, but to integrating that into the curriculum? Well, of course, in the society we are today, everything's big on testing. And so although I was a middle school history teacher, although the eighth grade history test wasn't really considered a passing standard, it played into the school's accountability rating. So it was difficult for me to go outside and bring in actual African American history, because if it's not in the curriculum, in the teach with the teachers go by Texas essential knowledge and skills, if it's not in there, then a lot of schools and a lot of administrators were a little bit uncomfortable because, hey, we've got to get these kids to pass this test and we've got to get great numbers. So you spending time, you know, someone's talking to me, you spending time bringing in this extra stuff, hey, maybe you can reserve that for like after school or things of that nature. Did you ever have problems with the kids asking why you were focusing on this other information, which was maybe not, not the same thing that they may have heard from like TV or other books? You know, I've never really had pushback and that's what's really cool about it. I've taught in several districts, most of the districts I taught in were urban districts, so, you know, the ones inner city. And so I never really, you know, had a pushback with that. So as one of the last larger districts I worked for, it was a historically predominantly white district. So, you know, there were a lot of Caucasian students there, but I never got pushed back from them, you know, they would come and tell me, you know, hey, you know, this is really interesting. I didn't know this, you know, I didn't, I didn't, I didn't think these kind of things, you know, existed or happened. Because like I said, most of the time, the story of blacks in America is enslavement, emancipation, civil rights and where we are now, you know. And there are so many gaps to be filled in, in between those categories that I spoke about, it's just a plethora of information. So a lot of kids were blown away. And so, you know, I probably should have taught a little bit higher. And so my aspiration is to hopefully get into college. But being in that middle school realm, you know, it kind of flew over some kids' heads, but they would always beg me to follow them to the local high school, which I probably should have took their advice. You bring up a very interesting point in the discussion. And I want to circle back to this. You said right at the very beginning that African American history, black history should be considered American history rather than seeing something different. There's a lot of people who here are teaching Mexican American history, African American history. And they said, let's get rid of the high foundation. It should just be American history. And so I think that it's interesting that you emphasize this point that black history is American history, and it's the same themes. How did you come to this this place of seeing where African American history fits into American history as a whole? I mean, you know, like I said before, even even with our enslavement, even with, you know, the things we went through as a people still, that was, you know, we're a key, probably the biggest part of why America is what it is. And, you know, we can go, you know, we can have millions of discussions of why still the American economy is still the way it is or, you know, why America sits where it is economically, especially of how built off the backs of slaves or enslaved people. But I came to a point and I can really say I probably came to a point when I was in undergrad, an undergrad student and I just really wanted to know more, you know, I wanted to know more than the stuff that they always taught us. You know, they, you know, the big three, you know, like Malcolm Martin and Rosa. And so I was interested in that, and especially being from Texas, Texas, you know, one of the largest states in the United States. And so, hey, we had to play a role in this. So, you know, as I'm teaching, I'm studying at the same time. I taught Texas history and US history, which I think I had more fun teaching Texas history because seventh grade history is not tested. So it gave me more leeway to bring in these stories of these, you know, black conquistadors that people don't know about. Or it gave us the time to talk about people like Estonvenko, who came in or a lot of Equiano, you know, all these different people that you can talk about. But in saying all those names, they're American history, you know, and not just North American history. They played a big key role in Central America and South America. So there is no way to separate black history from American history. It's just not feasible. So you're a parent and I know that you want to instill these same things that that you are learning, that you're going through in your children, in your boys. But you didn't necessarily get this information so much when you were in their place. How do you see this as a parent in expanding their minds to kind of make them have things that you didn't have or education that you didn't have? Well, so as as a educator, as a historian and as a parent, I just try to expose my children to things that that I wasn't exposed to. And it's not that that my parents, you know, didn't know, my parents didn't know, but they did my parent as of lately as I talk to my parents. And and we have the discussion of integration and desegregation in Houston. You know, I talked to my mother. She was part of the second integrating class in Houston. So my parents knew, but I think now, especially in we're such in this this this time that we're in, I can't even really call, you know, call it. But we're in a weird time and a weird space in America. And so I really want to make sure that my sons are knowledgeable and cognizant of the things that are going on as for with them. You know, they're they're young black males. And so I just really try to expose them in in in different ways. Sometimes it's successful. Sometimes it isn't because they're kids, you know. But my my my 15 year old son really surprised me because I follow him on his social media and the day that the insurrection happened at the Capitol, he posted on his Snapchat. And so, you know, I listened to his room and I was like, dude, you're actually listening to me. And so I think the kids are getting it. And I think they're getting it a little bit better than we are. But I just still try to make sure that as a parent, I'm giving it to them in different ways. Yeah, you know, as you say, and, you know, maybe better than we are. I know you've had conversations with other African American parents who question you on why you're so fixated on, you know, on the importance of African American history. Now, that could be just because you're a historian, right? That history is your field. But I think it goes beyond that, too. Right? It does. It's just. Of course. Being a historian, you know, it's my field is just what I like to do. You know, you know, I find something and I fix it on it historically. And I'm in it. But even even outside of that, I just think that people just people just don't know things. And so I just take it upon myself to try to expose people because I mean, even just not, you know, black history, like you said, I'm a historian. So, you know, I'm trying to help people make sure they understand government. So we don't fall into the trappings that we fell into before. You know, I'm trying to make sure that people know their rights. You know, I'm trying to make sure that, you know, people understand about different economic things when it comes to where they live and things of that nature. So, but yeah, I've been questioned a lot even by colleagues and stuff. You know, even my friends, they'll tell me, hey, you're the one guy that can really ruin a party because somebody will say something and you giving us the historical rundown. I was like, well, yeah, I'm sorry, you know, this is a lifestyle for me. It's just a hobby. So, you know, that's what I've been faced with. But again, you know, people need to know. And so if I can take it one step at a time and educate as many people as I can, then, you know, that's that's what I do. Let me ask you one more question. I know you're a big advocate of historically black colleges and universities, HBCUs, and they're very important in American and African American and educational history. And I see right there on your on your sweater that you're wearing that what do those letters mean and what does that mean to African American education? OK, so the sweater I have on is my fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity Incorporated, founded 1911 at Indiana University. And so we're not so fraternities and HBCUs are not an all inclusive thing. So when I say that, like I said, we were founded at Indiana University. You know, Alpha Phi Alpha was founded at Cornell University. So we weren't just at black universities, but they play a key and important role in black history because of the things that they face and the reason why these organizations were started. You know, so that in that in itself is just a whole long conversation. But from us, our organizations being around, mine's been around since 1911. You know, we have many key members who who've been a part of almost every intricate part of American history after we were founded. And so the key roles that fraternities play is is is is a unity, a sense of pride, especially when you're at a place where you're not wanted and is also a forever lifetime bond. You know, once once you're in, you're in for life. And so it's it's it's it's been a great ride for me. And it's it's brought me a lot of great brotherhoods and friendships on the HBCU aspect. You know, they're important because we were denied education for so long. And and they education is a tool and a key to to to the future. And like, you know, I tell every kid that I've taught, go to school, flunk out, go back, but go to school, go to college. Because even with the HBCU issue, again, we weren't allowed education. And so when these schools started, these were places that we were able to go in the in the mid-1800s, 1900s, where, you know, again, segregation was still going on. We were still in some people were still enslaved. And so to have that, again, another sense of pride in our community that's been around since about, I think the first HBCU was founded like in 1837. So for us, for these things to still be around right now, they're a sense of pride for our community. Well, very well said. Now, I thank you for your time and for your comments and for your insight in in teaching and the importance of African American History Month. Don, Caleb, the second, thank you very much for your time. And keep the faith, man. I appreciate what you're doing with history. Well, I appreciate you having me on. Have a great night. You too. Thanks. Today, my guest is Miguel Caesar. He's the lead archivist and acting manager at Houston Public Library's Gregory School. Mr. Caesar, welcome to Public Affairs Public Access on Houston Media Source TV. Thanks for having me. So tell us a little bit. How are you from Houston? How did you find yourself as an archivist? That's always a great question, because no one really sets out to become an archivist, so I actually went to Preview NAM University. Once I graduated with a business degree, I went to grad school in the Community Development Program at the School of Architecture. So during that time, I worked as a grad assistant at the Special Collection Archives at Preview NAM University. And this is kind of where I kind of fell in love with archives. So I actually worked there for about two years as a graduate student and was able to process collections, digitize photos, learn history without having to teach it, so to speak, to actually just preserve it and just let it come to me at my own pace. And once I graduated with my master's degree in Community Development, I decided I wanted to go back to school to get a master's in library science because I actually enjoyed the work I was doing as a grad student. And once I went to Texas Women's University and got a master's in library science, I actually worked at the Preview Archives and other departments in the library for about eight years before I came to the Houston Public Library's African American Archives in 2013. So it's just kind of a random journey to come to what this so I guess end up where we are now. So just as some background for people who might be interested, how does one become an archivist? I think the best way and there's a lot of schools around that offer certifications and different certificates that are dedicated to preservation. It's mainly by, I would say, experience and and volunteering and getting your name out there that people actually know that you have that interest. You definitely, I would say you definitely would need a master's in library science to to solidify your professionalism in the field. But even when you get that master's in library science degree, you have to make sure you're going to a school that offers that archival component. But if not, that's when your experience and your volunteer services come in to help shape your your professional career and your direction of your career. So when did you actually come to the Gregory School? 2013 actually came here as a processing archivist and I held that position for a couple of years. And my job and my duties at that time was to go out, acquire, preserve and document academic and history in Houston, as well as the surrounding areas, which entail digitizing photographs, putting older documents in the proper housing, had some free folders, climate controlled conditions and things like that. When did the Gregory School open and and how did it come to be? Great question. So the original Gregory School, then called the Gregory Institute, what was was established in 1870 for children to formally enslaved African Americans in the Houston area. The elementary school was actually named after Edgar M. Gregory, which was a union officer of the Freedmen's Bureau for Texas. We're actually located in Freedmen's Towns, Fort Worth, which is considered, well, not considered, which is the city's oldest African American community. Our current brick facility was built in 1926. It serves the community as a school until, I think, 1984. Then HPL acquired the property from the Houston Independent School District, which once it was finally renovated and reopened in November of 2009 as the African American Library that we know today. And it's also the first of its the first of well, the first African American Library was kind of Houston, but it's also one of the very few African American resources in the United States. And it's actually the main goal of this facility is to promote and celebrate the riches for African Americans in Houston and as well as Texas. And we do have a little bit of stuff on Louisiana as well. So it's Houston kind of writ large. It's not just the greater Houston area or even in the in the Beltway, right, or in the loop, as Houstonians like to call it. So it sounds like you have a broad collection there. And you say it is the library is fairly new. It's been there what, 10 years now, opened in 2009. And you were mentioning some of the resources. Let's talk about some of those resources from various parts of Houston, the county, and even, as you were saying earlier, Louisiana, what types of resources would someone want find if they went to the Gregory Library? Yes, sir. Well, we as a research center in the library provides a variety of resources, including reference books, rap books, archival materials. We have exhibits, artifacts or histories. And we also offer innovative programming. The collection will focus more on African American studies as it relates to Houston, but also Texas, I think I mentioned a couple of times. But it definitely provides access to a variety of formats, such as databases, microfilms, books, journals. We have a pretty good collection of African American newspapers, such as the Informer, The Forward Times, The Houston Defender. We also offer just a little bit more about our oral history. So the Gregory School's historic collection is very dependent on oral histories. We get a wealth of information from the community just coming in to tell us the story about how it was growing up in specific time periods, whether it was actually going to the Gregory School or going to an event in Houston. So those are very, very important to us. We also offer programming when we were open and also online right now. We try to offer programming about two to four times monthly that relate to the archival collection and also important African American issues. We also offer tours, we're working on getting a virtual tour set up, but when things resume, we would book tours for the community. We have the first floor would feature a historic classroom and three permanent galleries that show the growth of African American community and the contributions that they made in Houston, as well as at the end of the hall, we would feature a art gallery that was usually curated twice a year that just kind of focus on national national art, different topics. So not necessarily tied to Houston, but it brings in that that international as well as national, I guess, aspect to the Gregory School. Let me ask you about something you said as part of your collections. Did I hear you right in saying that there are red books? We do have a book called The Red Book. Can you explain to the viewers what that is, what that means? Well, so the Red Book is one about red books, I should say. So this was a book that kind of documented a lot of the African American's first and significant milestones in the city. I want to say we might have a copy online that you can see, but you can definitely contact us and, you know, we'll get right now. We can we're doing a remote reference so we can actually digitize some pages for you. We can have remote document varying to see some of the images or some of just some of the information that's in there. So we we have several collections such as the Houston local author collection. So anyone who's writing books, you know, pretending to Houston or just even personal books, we do have a space to to add that to our collection and we, you know, have that reserved for anyone who's to come in and say that books. Now, all books do not make it to the catalog. So, you know, it definitely has to fit our collecting scope, but if it fits our scope as well as Houston Public Library's collecting scope, it can be added to the catalog. But at the very least, it will be documented and stored at the Gregory School. What can you share with us if it is February? African American History Month, Black History Month in the United States. And we certainly celebrate here in Houston. Tell us a little bit about that. What else other kinds of history do you have there? That's a good question. So mainly we have what we get from the community. And that's that's that's the balance that we have to play with the community because, like I said, the galleries on the first floor will tell stories of the first families that came here instead of churches. Universities and just kind of document what actually what the African American community actually had to offer because, as you understand, once once they settled for Fremontstown or Fort Worth, we called it, it wasn't part of the city. So it wasn't incorporated into the Houston city limits. It was considered the outskirt, the swampy land. Hence, that's why it actually still floods closer to downtown because it's actually grown to come out and encompass Fort Worth and, you know, to ITN and I think were brought about 45. So with that being said, the black community didn't get the support of having the roads paved. So they they bought bricks and actually paid the streets themselves. They actually put out their own lights. Fort Worth was just the epic center of African American life and culture period. And it was a very self-sustaining community. And it was just kind of its own city. And, you know, you didn't have to leave for anything. You had your own doctors here. You had your own grocery stores here. You're entertainment. And it is we we want to shed light on that. And we actually have, like you said, a lot of information, especially in those newspapers that were only able to they were only documenting African American events, so to speak, and bigger events. But you couldn't go to the Houston Chronicle or Houston Post and see what was going on in the African American community. You had to rely on, I guess, just the African American newspapers and news outlets from sources from that, I guess, expect. It's very important that we keep and document, you know, these instances because African American history is everyone's history. It's not just African American history. So everyone's welcome, you know, regardless of, you know, race or profession, we have students come in and do research. We have just regular community members come in and do research. You know, everyone we have usual get tours, senior citizen tours, love to come by, church tours. Just the community as a whole is very welcome to just walk in and we'll be able to find something for you. What other kinds of special resources might someone find there? Any standout collections? Any famous Houstonians that we should know more about? OK, so one of my personal favorite collections will be the John S. Chase papers. So this collection contains over 700 photographs and blueprints that document his career. So John Chase was the first African American to attend graduate school at the University of Texas School of Architectures. He actually received his he was the first African American to receive his masters from that program in 1952, which made him the first licensed African American architect in Texas and actually have co-found the National Organization of Minority Architects, along with six other Black architects. We also have a collection from Ben DeSoto, who was a photojournalist for the Houston Post, as well as the Houston Chronicle, which documented race and class within Houston's ever changing landscape. But his collections focus mainly on fourth ward and fifth ward in the early eighties, probably through the late nineties. Another great collection we acquire is called the Albert Palsy collection, photograph collection. He was a Vietnam veteran who actually photographed Houston as well, mostly in the fourth ward area, and various veteran parades and traveled to the United States doing this as well as other veterans parades. So we've been able to collect a lot of interesting collections. I think we acquire up to about 400 plus digital collections as well as all histories and manuscript collections. So let me go on to talk about the oral history collections. Is this an ongoing project or how do you collect the oral histories? You know, so let me backtrack a little bit here to start off. I don't know that everybody knows what an oral history is. But if you're watching this show right now, this is essentially a very similar to what an oral history is. So tell us a little bit more from an archival standpoint. What what we mean by oral history? So all histories are short stories that take you back in time and it's from a personal perspective of someone who actually experienced the events. So we would bring for an example, the process where we're someone would call us and say, hey, you know, I would like to do an oral history. So at that point, we would send them our pre-interview questions to kind kind of get some basic information on where you live, what did you grow up, when did you graduate, and then we would talk to them to see about what stories that they would like to talk about. So then you can use this pre-interview format to kind of jot down your story. So you can kind of stay on track to what what it is that you're actually trying to tell us. But at the same time, our job as archivists will be to give a lot of opening questions to let the information just flow. We don't want to, you know, it's not our job to kind of, you know, dictate or or I guess, well, better word to drive a story in a certain direction or get you to talk about, you know, a certain event, we kind of just let you tell your story. And a lot of people understand that that it works with it goes hand in hand with the archival collection because, like I said, you can read a book about, you know, let's say, the segregated schools and things like that, but you read that book and then you put in all history with someone who actually had these experiences that you can hear, you know, live and vivid from their, I don't want to say imagination, but from their recollections. It just makes learning that more inclusive, together, complete. And it just gives a different feel to the history. And also it's very important in the African American community because a lot of stories were passed down this way, mainly because the African American culture wasn't documented very well for a long time. So a lot of the wealth is actually residing in people's memories. So that's why it's very important that we sit down with the community to get these stories out. And you also, you don't have to be an older, you don't have to be an older person. We take young people all the times, you know, people doing great things and want to document that. So, you know, if you think you have a story, you would like to, you know, talk to an artist about, definitely contact us and, you know, let us be the judge of what we think is of historical significance because a lot of people have a lot of information that they just don't believe it's worth anything. And nine times out of ten, that is definitely not the case. And, you know, it's our job to find value in things that you don't see the value in. Well, that's very, that's very interesting. So and I'm I really love oral history, so thank you for going into that. So say that my family has a person maybe has died or is getting older. And how do I get to preserve that collection with the Gregory School or one of the other libraries that may not fit? I mean, I guess you guys have a certain criteria of what goes into each library. How do I, how do I get a collection that I think is important to you? So we are still a actively collecting institution. And this can be done in a couple of ways. You can actually email us at HPL dot Gregory school dot Houston TX dot gov. And just jot down, you know, I have some items from photographs, books that I would like for you to take a look at. And we will give you a call back instead of what we call a donor meeting. Well, also just if you, you know, you don't use a computer, you don't want to use the computer, you can always just pick up the phone and give us a call and and that number will be 832-393-1440. And we'll make we'll definitely make this information available to you. But we have a website that you can go to as well. On the She's the Public Libraries website and you'll find the African American Library and you can find a wealth of information that will help you do that. But the main thing we the easiest way is just to give us a call and we'll set up a donor meeting and that's what we'll talk about the items that you have. And then we can assess what will be good for the collection and what's not. But also you don't have to you don't have to determine this yourself either. If you just want to box up a whole bunch of newspaper clippings, photographs, you know, journals, journals, memoirs, you can just box up what you have. Let us know we can make arrangements even during COVID. I'm sorry, even during COVID, we can make arrangements to take collections. And we'll go through and determine what has research value. And, you know, we'll put things from the collection and we'll also, you know, make a separate pile, so to speak. And we'll give that back to you and give you the option and say, OK, this did not fit the collecting scope, but these items will fit the collecting scope. So it's as I guess labor is tensive as you as you want to make it or easy breezy, just drop it off to us and we'll we'll generate the collection from what you give us. You know, as I'm a professional historian and as a historian, one of the things that is always very important to us is finding archival collections because oftentimes you'll find real diamonds in the rough. The sad thing is, I think, is that a lot of families and a lot of people, just one of the mill people say, well, my family wasn't special. My grandfather, my grandmother, you know, didn't do anything, you know, important, but but but those are important as well, because oftentimes we find things in those oral histories or those document collections that are just really telling. What do you say to people whenever they think, you know, this stuff isn't important, but just, you know, grandma or aunt or uncles stuff that you guys can't find any use for that. How do you talk to people like that? Well, hopefully I can catch them before they decide to throw things away. And like you said, it's always the older generation that documented everything. So I would say, like I said, like if you're, you know, your grandparents and your mom, you know, unfortunately, when people pass, the younger generation, kids might, you know, not live in the same state. So this one come in, clear out the house, throw things away. Please look us up. We will take, you know, everything, you know, just to to make sure that doesn't happen. So I would tell anyone who thinks, like I said, they don't have value in collection is that you're just the fact that you live through these experiences is what we're documenting. We're not here just to document, you know, the famous people of Houston or notable African-Americans. We're here to get the everyday story of the everyday people because that helps paint a broader picture of what was going on. You know, we it's just as important to know how, you know, the classroom look from one hour or histories where they can recall they come into our school and do all history and they can tell us, OK, yeah, the cafeteria is right there. Mrs. So-and-So's office was right here. You know, this was there. You know, we we would never get that type of insight as well as, like I said, going away items, you know, we we are the experts in the deter to determine what is relevant for researchers. So you don't have to do that. You know, if you know you're coming to clean out someone's house, whether it's a parent, a loved one or a friend, or you know, someone who's going through that and you know this person collected, you know, newspaper clippings, photographs, programs or anything, you know, to to do history justice, it will be, you know, ideal for you to just look us up, give us a call, we can come pick up stuff. We can make arrangements for you to drop things off. But like you said, it's it's it's very important that everyone understands that whoever collected that stuff thought it was important. Even you may not, you know, and you might think it's just paper, but your loved one took time to sit there, cut those clippings out, make a scrapbook, put things in a shoe box and kept over the years. You know, it's aren't it aren't them by just bringing to someone to take a look at to see if we can see what they saw on those items. So I think, you know, that you can not talk about that enough because that's a lot of where the African American history is residing at this point, because once again, it's African American history and a lot of minority histories just was not well documented in the past. So it is in people's closets and addings and in garage. So yeah, it's just just give us a call and talk to us before you decide to go away anything. You know, I think that's that's an important message. And I thank you for sharing that because you're absolutely right. About two things you said going back earlier, talking about oral history, not everybody wrote things down, right? Not everybody has a documentary trail. But there's a lot of great photographs. There's a lot of great family stories. Family recipes that oftentimes, you know, and it's not just people who are passing on and cleaning, you know, cleaning out their stuff, but people who are downsizing their houses, people who have been scrapbooking and collecting for a long time and they have collections. As you were saying, you know, people collect things for a reason. And I think that's important. It's important to preserve that because as you're saying, you know, there's there's a lot of good stuff that otherwise would disappear from the historical record. Let me ask you a question. One of the things I've noticed when I've been to the Gregory School, one of the things that I really appreciated, I do educational history and there is a preserved classroom in the Gregory School that kind of transport us back to what it might have been like for students who attended there, what, you know, what they would have seen when they walked into a classroom. What other kinds of exhibits do you often have at the Gregory School? And so talk about that first. Then I want to talk about what are we doing now in the time of COVID? I guess so we do have three permanent galleries. And I think earlier I was speaking how they are designed to African American contributions to that they've added to Houston. So the first one, when you start off, when you come for a tour, you go through the restored classroom, which is, like you said, a 1926 setting of what it would look like to go to go to a class during this time period. You go through that door, it's going to lead you into the first gallery where you will see a timeline of significant African American events from the first churches, from the first schools, from notable contributions for African Americans. And it's more specific, specific to what, you know, I guess the time period. So it gives you a better sense of what was going on and exactly what time period this is going on. Then we also have the second gallery, which is dedicated to, I want to say, cooperation and economics and things of that nature. So you'll find, I guess, exhibits and people along this gallery that, you know, contribute to music, open organizations, social organizations, as well as music, you'll find in there and you'll find more churches in this in the second gallery as well. You'll see a original map of Fourth Ward, so you can kind of visualize Fourth Ward as well as Freemontown because Freemontown is just a historical neighborhood within the historical Fourth Ward. So to see that original map would definitely help. And it'll show the Grayry School and how the original layout of the land was during that time. Then you move into the third gallery, which is just kind of some sums up the rest of the other two galleries where you can just get a feel of more photographs that comes from my collection. So you'll see kids, women, children that shows a different perspective of African American life to show that, I guess, and I had to say this to a lot of people that, you know, African Americans did create, you know, they did have good lives. Like it was not all bad and you can see this during the photograph. You know, they they weren't all slaves. They weren't all poor. You can see that once we were free people, they actually did very well for themselves. So we make sure we show that side because it's too often you don't get a chance to actually see that. So we have a bunch of photographs that show people at picnics, having nice cars always been dressed up, having things, you know, just not such a gloomy depiction that we kind of get from history. So we're here to shine light to the fact that there was a lot of good going on during during this time also. One of the nicest events that sticks in my memory is a number of years ago. You had a group of Tuskegee Airmen and some nurses and they came in and they spoke. We're telling stories about their experiences. So that's definitely part of our innovative programming. We we go out and try to get, you know, programming based on the community as well as the African American interests on a local level as well as a state level and national level. Even to I guess this might or black history, we actually have four programs that you can sign up from the Houston Public Library's website as well. The first one is the importance of the African American family, which is Thursday, February 4th at six thirty, which is what a genealogist named Deborah Sloan. She will, you know, teach us how to get started in genealogy and tracing your roots. Now, that's going to be a great lecture slash workshop. Thursday, the fall and Thursday, February 18th, we have the color of dead cemeteries and black families. So this will be given by Texas Southern professor, Professor Meeks, which is from the greater school. And she will be excited to show how cemeteries have operated when it comes to African American burial grounds. The next program, I believe, will be February 25th, will be COVID-19 and the global pandemic and the impact on black families. So this will kind of talk with and this is a Dr. She's an associate professor from, I think, Prager A&M University. So she will kind of discuss the impact that COVID-19 has had on the black community and the black family structure itself. I feel like I'm forgetting one. OK, yeah, I think that that. Oh, no, I did forget when I'm sorry. It's the one I forgot to mention was going to be on Thursday, February 11th. Also at seven o'clock and these are all remote programs. And this will talk about. I think it was based on black perception of interracial sex in the 20th century. So it kind of explores the the interracial sex of the native population. And it relates to the African American population. I think in the black community, it explores that a lot of African Americans would say, you know, well, I had Indian in my family and my great grandma was Indian in my family. So it's going to talk about that connection and how that is true in certain cases. I really appreciate your time, Mr. Miguel Caesar, lead archivist and acting manager at Houston Public Library's Gregory School. Thank you so much for your time and for your stories about the Gregory School. Thank you, sir. I appreciate the time. Well, that's the show for this evening. And I want to thank our special guest, Don Caleb, the second for his insights on African American History Month, both as a teacher and as a parent and Miguel Caesar, the lead archivist and acting manager at the Houston Public Library's Gregory School for more information, you can go to the Houston Public Library main page at houstonlibrary.org. For the League of Women Voters of the Houston area, I'm Gene Crois. Thank you for watching Public Appearance, Public Access on Houston Media Source TV. Good night.