Past Exhibit
Exhibit Dates: Oct. 28, 2022 - Feb 26, 2023
Location: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, First Floor West (near 10th & G Streets NW)
A special exhibit to highlight a new collection comprised of 1600 digital images of posters, photographs, and other items from the protests that erupted outside the White House after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.
Organized by the DC Public Library in collaboration with Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin, curators of the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence, and institutional partners, including Digital Maryland at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Howard University, and the Library of Congress. The exhibit was made possible, in part, with support from the DC Public Library Foundation.
Installation view, Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence exhibit, 2022. Credit: Imagine Photograhy DC
About
The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence is the name given to the installation of protest art on the security fence erected to restrict protests outside the White House that erupted after the murder of George Floyd. From June through January 2021, activists attached signs, banners, t-shirts, and other artifacts to protest the treatment of Black and Brown people by police, and to demand solutions to many societal issues including racism, LGBTQIA+ rights, women’s rights, the 2020 presidential campaign, the COVID-19 pandemic, and more.
Activists turned the fence into a memorial, an art project, and an outpouring of emotions ranging from grief to joy. The BLM Memorial Fence suffered vandalism, including near destruction by Trump supporters who opposed its messages. Through a collaborative effort, many items were removed from the fence for historic preservation on January 30, 2021.
Credits
The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence Artifact Collection is a partnership between DC Public Library, Digital Maryland at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, The Library of Congress, and Howard University. The artifacts were collected and donated by Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin with assistance from Aliza Leventhal. Staff at Enoch Pratt Free Library completed the digitization of the artifacts. Metadata of the artifacts was completed by staff at the DC Public Library, with support from members of the public. A portion of the artifacts are housed at Howard University and may be viewed through Digital Howard. Also included in this collection are 38 artifacts collected by The Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
The collection is available on DigDC, the library’s portal for select digitized and born-digital historic collections. Visit the collection on the DigDC website to learn more.
Photo of the Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence on January 2, 2021
Credit: Farrah Skeiky