Lift Every Voice: Geneva’s Black Community since 1966

In 1989, the Geneva Historical Society (now Historic Geneva) began researching African American history in Geneva. Researcher and writer Kathryn Grover used archival sources for early history in this area. She conducted oral history interviews with local Black families for 20th century information. Many of her interviews with local Genevans live in Historic Geneva’s archive and are shared in this digital space. While initially intended to only be an exhibit, Grover went on to write the book Make a Way Somehow: African American Life in a Northern Community, 1790-1965. This book, and Grover’s research, has remained our best source of material on the Black experience in Geneva since its publication, however its storytelling ends in 1965.

The thirtieth anniversary of the book inspired Historic Geneva to celebrate the rich, diverse history of our community by continuing the story of Geneva’s Black and African American community from 1966 for a new exhibit. Lift Every Voice: Geneva’s Black Community Since 1966 opened at the Geneva History Museum in spring of 2023 and closed in the spring of 2024; some images in the physical exhibit were removed from this digital exhibit.