African American experience subject at Victor Valley Museum Conversation features Richard Diggs and Hardy Brown II

SAN BERNARDINO, CA—- The Victor Valley Museum is proud to host a remarkable conversation featuring Richard Allen Collins Diggs and Hardy Brown II, two historians with powerful stories about different aspects of the African American experience. The presentation takes place this Saturday, Oct. 19, 3 to 5 p.m. at the Victor Valley Museum, 11873 Apple Valley Rd, Apple Valley.

The emergence of a family bible in 1985 led Richard Diggs to the discovery of 150 years of documents — birth, marriage and death records — to piece together the pre- and post-slave experiences of the Collins family, from Africa to the Americas. Beginning in 1618, Diggs recounts the remarkable family trajectory including the first people to be taken as indentured servants until 1720 when they were forced into chattel slavery. The Collins family bible is on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C.

Hardy Brown II is the Executive Director of the Black Voice Foundation and Curator of Footsteps to You: Chattel Slavery, Objects from the Gore Collection. This award-winning exhibit tells the story of chattel slavery in America through the objects collected by Jerry Gore, a historian whose lifelong goal was to expose the horrors of slavery so that visitors to his hometown of Maysville, Kentucky could appreciate the daily perils experienced by enslaved people as well as the strength it required to fight for their freedom. The collection is now owned and stewarded by the Black Voice Foundation, and will be exhibited at Victor Valley Museum thought December 22.

Event ticket includes a reception of light hors d’oeuvres and tour of the exhibit Footsteps to You: Chattel Slavery.

The Victor Valley Museum and the County Museum’s other exciting events and exhibits reflect the effort by the Board of Supervisors to achieve the Countywide Vision by celebrating the arts, culture, and education in the county, creating quality of life for residents and visitors.

The Victor Valley Museum is a branch of the San Bernardino County Museum located at 11873 Apple Valley Road in Apple Valley. Regular museum days and hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the talk is included with general admission: $5 (adult), $4 (senior or military), and $2.50 (student), EBT cardholders are $1. Children under 5 and the San Bernardino County Museum Association members are free. Parking is free. For more information, visit www.sbcounty.gov/museum. The museum is accessible to persons with disabilities.