Overview
The “Bridges That Carried Us Over Project: Documenting Black History in the IE” is a community-based collaborative initiative aimed at documenting Black history in the Inland Empire.
Founded by Wilmer Amina Carter and Ratibu Jacocks, the “Bridges that Carried Us Over” project was launched in 2007 and led by the Wilmer Amina Carter Foundation. This project was one of the first documentation projects in the area to capture the stories, experiences, and history of the Black community in this region. Carter, along with a team of volunteers, met with the region’s Black pioneers and leaders who contributed significantly to its development, conducting and recording oral history interviews over several years to help diversify the historical record and highlight the rich cultural legacy of the Black community in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.
The initiative was revitalized in 2020 and continues to capture the stories and experiences of the Inland Empire's Black community through oral history interviews. The scope for the refreshed project has been expanded to further engage the Inland Empire’s Black community in an effort to more comprehensively capture its history. Project efforts are now also focused on the identification and preservation of historical collections that reside in the community as well as on the creation of a community-centered, participatory digital archive of primary source materials.
Contribute to the Project
We are seeking photographs, stories, and other materials to help build our collection. We are especially interested in photographs and related materials that capture civil rights organizations and protests, Black churches, businesses and social organizations (e.g., Masons, clubs), and historic neighborhoods (e.g., Mead Valley, eastside Riverside, westside San Bernardino, Stuart Street in Redlands).
We’d love to hear from you! If you are interested in contributing to the collection please complete this form or contact us at archives@csusb.edu.
Events
Please join us for this virtual event featuring guest speakers Wilmer Amina Carter, Cheryl Brown, John Coleman, and Carolyn Daniels
- January 29, 2022: “Building Bridges: Panel Discussion of Black History in the IE”
- Event Recording: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/bridges/21/
We invite you to join efforts to preserve local history by bringing your historical photos or documents to scan at one of these Black History Month events:
- February 19, 2022: Mrs. Moses 100th Birthday Celebration
- Time: 10:30a – 1: 30p
Location: 21565 Steele Peak Dr., Perris, CA 92570
- Time: 10:30a – 1: 30p
- Postponed: CSUSB Pioneer Breakfast
- Date: TBD
Time: TBD
Location: CSUSB
- Date: TBD
- Postponed: New Hope Baptist Mission Auxiliary Celebration of Black History
- Date: TBD
Time: TBD
Location: 1575 W 17th St., San Bernardino, CA 92411
- Date: TBD
Project Leads
- Dr. Jennifer Tilton (Associate Professor of Race & Ethnic Studies, University of Redlands)
- Dr. Marc A. Robinson (Assistant Professor of History, CSUSB)
- Dr. Catherine Gudis (Associate Professor of History, UC Riverside)
- Eric Milenkiewicz (University Archivist, CSUSB)
Project Partners & Co-Sponsors
- Wilmer Amina Carter Foundation
- University of Redlands Program in Race and Ethnic Studies
- Relevancy & History Project partnership between University of California’s Public History Program and California State Parks.
- CSUSB Department of History
- CSUSB John M. Pfau Library
- Black Voice News
- Congregations Organizing for Prophetic Engagement
- NexGen United
- Second Baptist Church of Redlands
- Civil Rights Institute of Inland Southern California
Media Coverage
"Episode 55: Bridge That Carried Us Over – Marc Robinson,” SoCal Voices Podcast, February 17, 2022.
“February 3: Lifestyles with Lillian Vasquez,” Empire KVCR, February 3, 2022.
Breanna Reeves, “The Bridges that Carried Us Over,” The I.E. Voice, September 12, 2021.