The drumbeats rang through the halls of the Onondaga Historical Association Museum. Visitors to the museum took their seats in a small, cozy auditorium, as the drums continued to announce the start of the festivities.

‘Back in the day, there were no cell phones, so we used drums to send messages over long distances,’ said one member of the Akuma Roots drumming group as he continued to beat his drum. ‘That is our culture; that is what we are from. Hear my message, remember where you are from.’

Throughout the month of February, the Onondaga Historical Association is helping Syracuse community members remember their history at its museum at 321 Montgomery St.

The Black History Month celebration on Sunday was also the unveiling of the association’s ‘Local Black History Exhibit,’ a photo exhibition of artifacts collected from local community members.

It will be open to the public throughout the month of February. The exhibit is the product of the Black History Preservation Project, a program sponsored by the Syracuse University South Side Initiative, a community engagement coalition between the South Side coalition of residents and various SU departments.

On Sunday, after the Akuma Drummers introduced the theme of remembering black history, the Eradication Squad Precision Drill Team took the stage to show off a unique combination of dance and rhythmic stepping based on military drills from World War II.

Then the South Side Initiative Kuumba Dancers, part of the after-school arts academy South Side Youth, which was started by the SU South Side Initiative, performed their ‘Roots Remembrance’ dance. The dance was meant to remember black history and to celebrate the future.

Gregg Tripoli, executive director of the Onondaga Historical Association, said he was very happy with the event turnout and credited a great outreach program and support from SU with the event’s success.

‘We had a great age and ethnic mix. With the support of all our supporting organizations, including Syracuse University and the Dunbar Association, the community has been able to come out to rally for itself, and it’s nice that they are interested, because it’s such a rich and glorious history that they have,’ he said.

However, despite SU’s sponsorship of the program, SU community members were not among the many visitors to the Onondaga Historical Association Museum on Sunday.

‘The SU South Side Initiative helps with PR and runs the Kuumba Project, but the Syracuse community is what really keeps it all going,’ said Sharon Jack-Williams, executive director of the Dunbar Association.

Syracuse community members have many other local history projects in the works, and almost everyone at the Black History Month celebration had their own story to tell, showing that the Onondaga Historical Association’s exhibit was only a part of the history that Syracuse community members have to share.

‘There is a tremendous amount of history that hasn’t been collected yet that we want to display,’ said Tripoli. ‘We are still collecting, and we don’t only want the ancient history, the more recent history is extremely interesting as well.’

ampaye@syr.edu

Published on February 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm