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A new display has been installed on the floor of ����ԭ��’s in honor of Black History Month. The display, which shows the evolution of the first African American community in the city of Dayton, was researched and designed by ����ԭ�� students Heidi Parker, Kirsten Dilger and Raquel Lightner.

The community was originally called Seely’s Ditch named for Morris Seeley. The “ditch” was a small feeder canal that branched off the main Miami-Erie Canal and traveled northeast, stopping just short of Fifth Street. Near its terminus, around the year 1829, Dayton’s first African American community, known as Africatown, was formed a little south and east of what is today known as Dayton’s Oregon District.

The display catalogs events leading up to the riot that destroyed Africatown in 1841 and follows the migration and the development of the community over a period of nearly two centuries.

The information in the display is largely based on the research of materials collected by Marlese Durr, Ph.D., professor of , and Geoffrey Owens, Ph.D., professor of , in the .

Parker said that local history is often overlooked in favor of flashier topics and that its effects are often left unknown.

“The fact there was an autonomous Black community thriving even briefly in the era before emancipation, shows the courage and tenacity of a community pushing back against an innately unfair system to create something for themselves,” Parker said. “Telling even a piece of that story is inspiring and ultimately challenges the notion that freed African Americans of that period were dependent on whites in the region.”

As a Dayton native, Dilger said she found the work of putting the display’s map together especially fascinating and enlightening.

“I have always wanted to know more about Dayton’s history because it is also my history. When Dr. Owens presented this project and the research paper he did, I was so excited to learn about a time and a place I had no idea existed in Dayton,” she said. “Seeing how much has changed and where such a crucial part of Dayton African American history happened is just amazing to me.”

All three students agreed that the project inspired them to dig deeper.

“Through this research, I learned what a pillar the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church was for the Africatown community,” said Lightner. “It’s sparked an interest in me to continue researching the history of the AME church and its ongoing contributions to the African American community. The autonomy and land ownership within the Africatown community, at a time where African Americans were still considered property just a mere 60 miles away, is an empowering story.”

Lightner hopes the exhibit is able to spark that same excitement and desire to dig deeper in those who see it.

“Exhibits such as this are meant to be enjoyed and to encourage the hunt for more knowledge,” she said. “My genuine hope is that this exhibit does that for students, faculty and friends who are able to see it.”