Students and faculty of the South Phoenix Oral History Project are hard at work preparing an exhibit highlighting Black Innovators of South Phoenix.
Student researchers are currently learning about the legacies of Black innovation that shaped local history south of the Salt River. Many are investigating individual organizers, activists, educators, healthcare professionals, and artists, while others are learning about significant sites of Black history in South Phoenix. Some of these sites and people include:
- Migrants to South Phoenix/Okemah
- Historically Black Public Schools: Heard/Roosevelt RSD, Palmdale/Brooks Academy, Sheraton Park/MLK, Percy Julian, SMHS
- Educators: Leatha Slaughter, Russell Jackson, Will Counts, Eula Riley Bursh
- Community Builders: Progressive Builders Association/Travis Williams Family, Sun Valley Life Insurance/Goldye and Alcee Hart, Art Hamilton
- Southside Churches: Southminster Presbyterian, South Phoenix Baptist Church, Wesley United Methodist Church
- Medical Professionals: Lowell Wormley, Juanita Campbell, SMCC Nursing Program, Duane Wooten
- Organizers and Activists: Links, The Phoenix Chapter, Horace Owens, Joshua Bursh
- Artists and Musicians: Louis Jordan, Funky Broadway, Helen K. Mason, Clendolyn Corbin, Rod Ambrose, Jerome Garrison
Student researchers will submit potential exhibit items for the Black Innovators of South Phoenix installation coming soon. Their submissions will highlight local significance against the backdrop of national and regional context including the Great Migration, the Long Civil Rights Movement, Historically Black Schools, and Black artists.
The exhibit will launch Summer 2026 at the South Mountain Community Library (2nd floor) and digitally on Southphoenixoralhistory.com.
South Phoenix Oral History Project 