Google Black History and Culture Collection
(Source: Lilly Workneh, Senior Black Voices Editor, The Huffington Post, 01/31/2016.)
In recognition of Black History Month, the Google Cultural Institute is providing a unique virtual experience to better explore and pay tribute to black history.
On Monday, the online institute, which boasts an impressive collection of digital artwork contributed by museums, will release more than 4,000 new items that document different moments throughout the history of black America.
The new experience will come with over 80 exhibits and three expeditions — immersive virtual reality journeys to cultural hubs like the jazz scene in New Orleans. Street views will virtually transport users to culturally significant locations across the country like the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, and the Museum of African American History in New England.
Meanwhile, new digital artifacts include historically relevant items like the original manuscripts of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” and “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speeches, as well as photographs of King’s handshake with President Lyndon B. Johnson on the day the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965.
Historical institutes like the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture contributed to the collection by digitizing portions of their archives.
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