Untold Black Stories Of Alton

To celebrate and share the conversations recorded for Untold Black Stories of Alton by StoryCorps, large-format portraits of over 30 Alton residents have been commissioned to animate windows along the Broadway corridor with portraits of the participants.

These are personal stories of family devotion, faith, dedication to hard work, friendship, honor, and reciprocity. They are filled with laughter, humility, and respect.

Through this listening tour and photography exhibit, we discover a rich and often untold history. We see ourselves in these stories. They help us find our way back to one another and imagine a more inclusive society.

Professional Photography by Bishoppe Kamusinga and Cedric Parker. Design by Tyrone Stevenson.

This is a collaboration between Jacoby Arts Center, Alton Main Street, Great Rivers and Routes Tourism Bureau, All Town, USA, and Hayner Public Library designed to catalyze diversity, inclusivity and equity within the downtown Alton historic district and engage the community with these Untold Black Stories of Alton.

Printing of the portraits is sponsored by The Mythic Mississippi Project, a public engagement venture of the University of Illinois that promotes community development through Cultural Heritage programming.

This project was made possible with support from Illinois Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.