Uncovering the True History of the Black Community in the Paper City

What is history? And who gets to tell it? What stories are documented? Why? Within traditional frameworks history is viewed as past events that have been validated through research.

Much of the history of Holyoke, Mass., known as the Paper City, has been white-washed, focusing largely on the narratives of city founders, and more recently, of Puerto Rican migration and culture. The history of the Black community has often been excluded. Erika Slocumb of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center will discuss how oral histories and archival documents are uncovering the history of Black Holyoke through Black perspectives.