Orange County NC Website
Project End Date (no <br />later than June 30, <br />2025) <br />May 15, 2025 <br />Project Goals Drawing upon primary source documents, we will collaborate with a local <br />artist to design a set of three retractable banners that contextualize the <br />history of racial terror lynching in Orange County, NC. <br />The banners, along with a locally crafted cabinet that houses the jars of <br />soil, will form a mobile exhibit that can be displayed at various sites <br />throughout Orange County. Our goal is to create an accessible and <br />resonant exhibit that educates the community, honors the history, and <br />disrupts the racialized systems that still impact our lives today. Importantly, <br />this will not be an exhibit that simply retells narratives of violence and <br />victimhood; instead, it will focus on the personal, familial, and community <br />histories of those who were murdered, setting their lives within the context <br />of the vibrant and visionary communities of which they were a part. <br />Two museum-quality banners of fixed height will flank the cabinet display, <br />while a third of variable height will stand behind it, offering flexibility for <br />exhibit locations with restricted space. W e will design the exhibit so that it <br />can appear with one, two, or three banners. <br />Audience Description Our target audience—put simply—is the public of Orange County. W e will <br />fabricate the banners to museum-quality standards, ensuring that they will <br />withstand the rigors of both standing display and periodic transport for a <br />decade or more. Given that the exhibit will appear in a variety of high-traffic <br />locations (e.g., libraries, senior centers, local museums, community <br />centers, historic sites) for extended periods of time, we expect many <br />thousands will encounter it. The specific demographics will shift from site to <br />site—a display at the Jackson Center, for instance, will draw a differently <br />diverse mix of elders and youth than, say, a placement at the Orange <br />County History Museum. The OCCRC’s commitment to broad-based public <br />outreach, and their own expansive membership of community organizations <br />and agencies, promises a large and wide-ranging audience. And though the <br />specific narratives captured in the banners address historically white, <br />Black, and—to a lesser extent—Indigenous communities, the themes <br />addressed therein speak far more broadly to the systemic workings of <br />power, race, and cultural difference. <br />Location Description The proposed exhibit will be eminently moveable, readily shifting from site <br />to site. The display case was built with mobility in mind; the retractable <br />banner stands, in turn, are made for easy assembly. This will allow us to <br />set up the exhibit in a range of high-traffic community gathering sites, <br />including public libraries, senior centers, high schools, community centers, <br />and the Orange County History Museum. W e anticipate that rich, <br />meaningful public programming will accompany the exhibit in each new <br />location. <br />Docusign Envelope ID: 5C6A01E1-DC9B-4C6D-A69F-25955310CCCC