Beck Cultural Exchange Center Inc

THE BECK CULTURAL EXCHANGE CENTER WILL INVENTORY, CATALOG, AND IMPROVE ACCESSIBILITY TO ITS COLLECTION RELATED TO KNOXVILLE'S URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAM OF THE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY. THE BECK COLLECTION CONSISTS OF 50,000 OBJECTS DOCUMENTING 226 YEARS OF LOCAL AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY AND CULTURE, INCLUDING APPROXIMATELY 5,000 DOCUMENTS, PHOTOS, MATERIALS, AND AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS RELATED TO THE CITY'S URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAM. BASED ON RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE KNOX COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY, THE CENTER WILL HIRE A FULL-TIME ARCHIVIST AND ONE PART-TIME ARCHIVIST ASSISTANT TO LEAD THE PROJECT, WHICH WILL INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES RELATED TO THE COLLECTION. THE USE OF THE COLLECTION WILL GROW BY DEVELOPING AN ONLINE SEARCHABLE CATALOG, AND PROMOTING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY INVOLVING VOLUNTEERS IN PROJECT ACTIVITIES. WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ONGOING PRESERVATION AND ARCHIVAL PRACTICES, THE BECK WILL BE ABLE TO DOCUMENT A MORE IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT OF THE PEOPLE, PLACES AND EFFECTS OF URBAN RENEWAL AND ITS CONTINUING IMPACT ON THE LARGELY AFRICAN AMERICAN POPULATION IT AFFECTED.