Community Link: The Association for the Study of African American Life and History

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — On this week’s edition of Community Link, we sat down with Karyn Williams of The Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

The association is the world’s oldest learned society devoted to research, education, culture and history of people of African descent.

Tell us about the Association.

The organization is over 100 years old as you previously mentioned. It was founded in 1915 Carter G Woodson, who saw there was a lack of history recorded for African-Americans. so he started out by creating 2 publications so that history could be recorded, and that was in the “Journal of Negro History” and also in the “Negro History Bulletin.”

You are hosting the annual conference and meeting here in Indianapolis. What’s the focus of the conference? 

The focus of this year’s conference is African Americans in times of war. This year we will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of WW I so we thought it would be fitting to host the conference here in Indianapolis where you may not know Indianapolis has more monuments and historical memorials than any other city outside of Washington D.C.

Why is it important for people to know this history?

Well it’s important because to know our history is to know what we need to repeat and those things that we don’t need to repeat. Part of our history is also African American history and that has been left out so many times in many of our learning or school education.

When and where will the conference take place? You have some sessions that are open to the public at the conference. What are they and who should attend?

The conference is going to be this October the 3 – 7 and it will be hosted at the Indianapolis Marriott downtown.